Blood and Ivory
by Rayhne
Summary: This story will be taken off hold soon. Yes, I am going to finish it.
1. Part 1

_This story starts after the successful raid on the water plant in V: The Final Battle. There are some minor changes in the events that occurred before that as well; they will be revealed as the story progresses._

He was dying.

He knew he was dying. Every laboring breath he took reminded him of that. Instinctively he tried to drag himself upward, to reduce the pressure on his lungs and make it easier to breath, but his arms had dislocated hours ago and he had no strength. He gave up, letting himself hang.

Dimly he could hear voices around him, alien voices that reverberated. He couldn't understand what they were saying, even though they spoke English. The questions had ended hours ago, when they finally realized he really couldn't answer them. Now they were just letting him die, without even the mercy of simply killing him.

He thought of his family, of his wife and tears he thought could no longer exist welled from his eyes. He wished he could see her one more time but at least, he consoled himself, she was safe. And the others were safe.

He could hear scornful laughter as he started to fade back into blessed unconsciousness. Laughter at his tears as they fell from his eyes to splatter on his chest and onto the broken ivory amulet they could not remove from his neck.

* * *

A universe or more away, she rose restlessly and stalked from the council clearing, her sharp hooves striking the ground so hard they shattered stone. She'd been restless for days now but this was worse, much worse and she was determined, despite her sister's admonishments for patience, to find out what was going on. It was, after all, her right and no one, not even the Queen herself, could deny her that.

She made her way to her sleeping area to scoop up her double-bitted axe in one hand and then headed to the training area for a brief glimpse of her five daughters. She had no fears that she wouldn't return … her kind were notoriously hard to kill … but she had no idea how long she would be gone.

"**So you go anyway?**" He sister didn't sound surprised and she turned to look at her.

"**Yes. I must.**"

"**I know.**" Her sister thrust a packet at her and surprised she took it. "**This may help. Don't do anything stupid.**"

She grinned. "**Have I ever?**" She vanished before her sister could remind her of all the really stupid things she had managed to do in her lifetime.

* * *

Sancho Gomez blinked, rubbed his eyes then raised the binoculars again, looking down at the Visitor installation once again before swearing in two different languages. He hated this. He hated the fighting, he hated the fear, he hated being the one who had volunteered to come up here and keep an eye on what was going on below while the others got ready for the raid. They knew there was likely going to be prisoners and they knew the prisoners would most likely die.

But they didn't know this.

He brought up the walkie-talkie and broke radio silence, something he knew he shouldn't do but this … this he couldn't deal with.

"Caleb." He hissed into the walkie-talkie, talking quickly to override anything the other man wanted to say. "Send Tyler up here. Pronto!"

Caleb must have hear the urgency in Sancho's voice because within minutes the man called the Fixer was climbing up the slope toward him, his large friend, Chris Farber, right behind him. The expression on the man's face was grim and Sancho knew he was going to hear about this later but at the moment he didn't care. Instead, before Tyler could speak, he thrust the binoculars at him.

Tyler's glare didn't diminish as he studied Sancho, finally concluding that the little Mexican wouldn't ask for him if it wasn't important. He took the binoculars and crawled up to peer carefully over the ridge.

Sancho, still watching Tyler, saw the spasm of pain flicker across the normally impassive face and reflected that he had been right. Chris had seen it as well and threw Sancho a questioning look but before Sancho could say anything, Tyler rolled over onto his back, thrusting the binoculars at Chris. The big man took them gingerly, as if he expected them bite, and looked over the ridge. The next second, he was swearing viciously.

"Ham …" He turned but Tyler was already gone, sliding back down toward where the others were gathered. Chris thrust the binoculars back into Sancho's hands. "Tell us …" He stopped dead but Sancho understood.

"Sure." He wanted to ask what they were going to do but he knew nothing had changed. The mission had to be completed and it was very likely any prisoners would die.

Chris reached the group seconds after Tyler, just in time to see him disappear into the woods nearby, the others looking at him in bewilderment. Caleb Taylor made a move as if to follow him but Chris gripped his shoulder.

"No."

Caleb looked at him, surprised at the depth of pain and anger in the other man's eyes.

"What's going on?' He asked. At Chris' hesitation, he pressed harder. "We need to know."

Chris looked after his friend, now out of sight. They did need to know. Not that it changed anything. "Prisoner. Just one that we saw." He said tersely then stopped, finally forcing the words out. "Ben Tyler. Ham's father." Something swore behind him and he was surprised to realize it was the priest. He glanced at the woods. "Give him a minute."

"What do we do?" One of the others asked.

Chris shook his head. "What we were planning on doing." He said grimly. "Nothing's changed. We knew there could be prisoners. And we know what could happen." He glanced toward the woods. "He knows it too."

* * *

Ham Tyler stopped the minute he was out of sight, taking deep breaths in an attempt to ease the agony that tore at him. It didn't work and he finally collapsed to his knees with a moan, hammering his fists uselessly against the hard ground.

What had happened? They'd only seen his father, where were the others? He hadn't seen the others …. He took a deep breath. No, he hadn't seen the others. They weren't there. They hadn't been captured. If they had, the lizards would have had them near, to witness the older man's agony.

Rational thought kicked in, driving away the despair that had begun consumed him. Whatever happened had to have happened in the last four days, the time he and this group had been out of touch. His father's capture could have been a quirk; he could have been away from the compound and was taken in one of the sweeps. This meant, of course, that the compound had been immediately abandoned.

But why was he here, being tortured? Did they know who he was? Were they trying to get information on the resistance?

Ham closed his eyes, forcing himself to bring the image of what he'd seen back into his mind. The one-time conservation camp was being turned into a concentration camp, though, of course, the Visitors didn't call it that. It was meant to be a place where scientists could be safely interred. No fences, at least none that could be seen and minimal guards. It would be a showplace of camps, a way to convince the public that the Visitors only wanted to help and, see? We've built this nice, safe, comfortable camp for our captured enemies to live in. No one would ever see those other highly-secured camps that the Visitors were building in the mountains.

But now the camp was still in the stages of being converted. Visitor workers had been scurrying all over; doing whatever it was that needed doing while troopers stood guard at the parameters. One Visitor looked to be in charge, standing near the center of the camp, watching the others. That Visitor looked to be an older male or at least one with a middle-aged human bodysuit.

All ignored the naked man hanging from a makeshift cross near the commandant. Tied with ropes, not nailed to it but that didn't lessen what was happening to him. Even through the binoculars, and now in his mind's eye, Ham could see blood where the ropes cut into his wrists, the dislocated shoulders, the bruises and blood and filth that covered him.

It was possible, he knew, that the man was already dead and a part of him almost hoped he was, that he was no longer in pain. He heard himself moan at the thought and he clamped his lips tightly closed. He couldn't deal with it now. They had to go through with this raid. He gulped air and pushed his emotions down. He couldn't think of his father, couldn't think of the others. He had to deal with …

The sound of running feet distracted him and he whirled on his knees, bringing his gun up and just as quickly lowered it when he saw Chris hurrying toward him.

"Sancho says something weird is happening." The big man sounded confused and Ham stared at him briefly before sprinting for the ridge. He snatched a pair of binoculars from someone as he ran through the group, Chris right behind him.

He scrambled back up the slope, settling next to the intent Sancho and raising the binoculars to his eyes. The next moment, he was lowering them, aware of Chris next to him doing the same. For a second he considered rubbing his eyes. Sancho second-guessed him.

"Won't help. It's still there." He said without lowering his glasses.

Tyler blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his eyes anyway then raised the glasses once more. Sancho was right, it was still there.

He wasn't sure how to describe it. Maybe a humanoid horse? But no horse had what looked like ivory plates growing from its body to form armor. Or a horn growing from the end of its nose. Or carried a huge axe. Or …

Tyler took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and look at the newcomer objectively. He estimated the creature to be perhaps nine, maybe even ten feet tall, not including the nasal horn that curved upward even higher. It was bipedal, with hooves instead of feet but with what looked like five fingers to each hand. No, maybe just four fingers. Oh, hell, he couldn't count them from here. The head was definitely horse-like, though the teeth looked to be sharp and fang-like. The coat under the ivory armor looked to be white while the mane and tail were solid black. It stood in front of the cross, turned to face the commandant, hands resting on the butt of an axe easily as tall as any Visitor standing down there.

And then there was the armor itself. Ivory covered the creature's whole body, curving around the abdomen like a sharply rippled cuirass. A separate piece formed a groin guard while more ivory covered the front of the legs and arms, even covering the hands in ivory-armored gauntlets. The long neck had its own ivory armor and a face plate curved from forehead to muzzle. A horn curved upward from just above the nostrils.

"Well, whatever it is, it's no friend of the Visitors." Sancho murmured.

Tyler started to agree, since at least half of the Visitors previously visible were now hiding and the other half obviously couldn't decide if they wanted to hide or attack but Chris murmured a correction.

"She." Astonished, both Tyler and Sancho turned their heads to look at him. "There are breasts under that chest armor."

The other two men looked at each other then back at the newcomer. As far as Tyler could tell, the armor grew naturally from it's … no, Chris was right … her body. There was a hint of breast under that chest plate.

"Figures you'd notice that." Tyler muttered and Chris grinned briefly. "And definitely not a friend of the lizards."

The commandant looked like he was ready to pitch a fit but the newcomer simply stood there, looking as solid as a wall of granite. Nothing, Tyler concluded, was going to move her. But what was she and why was she here? It looked like it had something to do with his father but why? And how did she get here?

"Where'd she come from?"

"Don't know. She just appeared." Sancho caught the look on Tyler's face. "I mean it, man! Literally! One minute not there, next minute there! Boom!"

Tyler frowned but didn't argue, watching as the commandant turned and started spitting angry orders. The camp became a swarm of activity, all taking place well away from the crucified man and the newcomer.

"They're leaving." He said suddenly. Most of the Visitors were heading for ground vehicles and piling into them, the vehicles speeding off as soon as they were filled. The commandant and what appeared to be his staff had vanished into a building, leaving only a handful of troopers outside. Tyler was amused to note that the troopers were very carefully ignoring the newcomer and were just as carefully avoiding pointing a weapon anywhere in her direction. It was making for some interesting positions. He turned the glasses back at the newcomer.

The creature was glaring at the building the camp staff had vanished into. After a moment, she tossed her head and then let out a sound that the three men could hear from where they hid. No, more like feel. Tyler felt a shiver go down his spine and he wouldn't be too surprised … nor the least bit ashamed … if his face had gone white.

"That." He said shakily. "Wasn't very pleasant."

"Even less pleasant for them." Chris said as the remaining Visitors ran from the buildings and piled into the two shuttles. Even the commandant was throwing off dignity to beat his people into the nearest shuttle. The next moment, the shuttles rose into the air and were gone.

"They'll be back." Tyler murmured, turning the glasses to look at his father. The man hadn't move in all this time, even when the creature had let loose that awful cry. He couldn't tell if he was alive or dead and a part of him was afraid to find out.

Then his view was blocked by the creature. She walked around the cross, studying both it and the man still tied to it, looking as if she had no idea what it was. She probably didn't, Tyler realized. After a moment, she crouched to set the axe on the ground and stepped behind the cross. She towered over it by a good two feet, making it easy for her to hook her hands under the cross' arms and lift it straight up out of the ground. She paused, looking around before taking three long steps backwards and lowering the cross to the ground. It took Tyler a moment to realize she had deliberately put the cross and its occupant down in the shade.

That accomplished, she crouched next to the man. Something appeared in her hand and Tyler's heart almost stopped when he saw that it was a knife then the creature, with a surprisingly delicate touch, used the thin blade to slice deftly through the ropes binding his father to the cross. She flipped the ropes away then paused. Apparently she could see his arms were dislocated but there was nothing she could do about it. Not without causing more injury.

Tyler rolled onto his side. "Gimme the walkie." He ordered and Sancho handed it to him. Pressing the 'talk' button, he spoke tersely into it. "Caleb, bring up the first aid kit."

Chris hissed. "I think she heard that!"

Clipping the walkie-talkie to his own belt, Tyler rolled over to peer through the glasses. The creature was glaring their way, ears flat against her head. After a moment, the glare faded and she returned her attention to the injured man.

Tyler heard Caleb scrambling up the slope toward them. Rolling over, he sat up, stripping off his jacket and handing it to Chris. He took the first aid from Caleb, thrusting the binoculars into the other man's hand. "Everyone stay where they are but be ready to move fast."

Leaving Chris to explain what was going on; Tyler climbed over the ridge and started down the slope.

* * *

Tyler moved slowly down the slope, one eye on the creature, the other on his footing. He had step carefully if he didn't want to arrive at the bottom in a seriously undignified heap. He found himself having to concentrate more on his footing then on the creature and was startled by a sudden explosive snort not far away. He looked up and froze, realizing suddenly that he'd traveled further then he'd thought. The creature, still crouched over his father, was eyeing him thoughtfully, her axe now on the ground by her side. He was close enough to confirm that she did indeed only have four fingers per hand and to see that her eyes were a startling storm-cloud gray.

Slowly he straightened from his half-crouch, hoping she realized he wasn't trying to sneak up on her but was only trying to keep his footing. He moved forward, keeping his hand well away from the holstered SMG. She eyed him curiously, nostrils flaring then she snorted and looked back down at the injured man.

Relaxing slightly, Tyler walked over to crouch on opposite side of the cross, wincing at the close-up view of his father's injuries. Setting the first-aid kit down, he hesitated then reached up to press his fingers against the older man's neck. There was a pulse, weak and thready but there and he almost sagged in relief. He heard a quiet rumble and looked up at the creature, surprised at the look in her eyes. In a human, he would say it was a look of compassion.

"Do you understand me?" he asked suddenly.

The creature rumbled again then spoke clearly in a deep, rumbling voice but the words she spoke weren't English. Tyler had the feeling she was asking him if he understood her and he almost grinned.

"So we don't understand each other. Well, I hope you don't misunderstand what I have to do." He turned his attention back to his father, wincing at the sight of his dislocated arms. "First things first …" He knelt, searching for the right spot. "I've done this before." He muttered. But not, his thoughts interrupted, to someone he loved. 'Shut up." He looked at his father's face, etched with lines of pain and suffering. "Don't wake up." He whispered. "Just, please, don't wake up." With that, he wrenched the arm back into place. His body tensed, waiting for the man to scream but Ben Tyler was too far into unconsciousness to awaken.

He heard a snort above him and tensed again, wondering what the creature thought. When he looked up though, all he saw was that same look he'd seen before. "I'd say you've seen this done before. Maybe even done it." For some reason, talking with this alien creature calmed him and he stood, walking around the cross. The creature obligingly rose and stepped aside to let him kneel there.

"Same procedure." He muttered. "Don't wake up." The man didn't and Ham rested the arm, now properly back in place, next to the man. He looked up, startled to realize the creature was gone. Alarm shot through him until he noticed hoof-prints heading for the nearest building. Apparently she had decided to look around and he shrugged. He had enough to worry about.

Ham wondered how long his father had been hanging from the cross. Blood, vomit, urine, and excrement covered his body and Ham knew he'd have to clean him up before he could evaluate all of his injuries.

There was a thump as two jugs of water were set on the ground next to him and Tyler looked up, startled. "Damn, you move quietly." He said to the creature and she seemed to laugh as she stepped over the man and the cross. She set down her armload and Ham realized she had brought out several sheets and towels. "You have definitely done this before." He reached for one of the jugs and twisted the top off. The water inside was stale and warm. Well, it didn't need to be fresh to wash someone clean.

The creature didn't help clean up the man and Ham didn't expect her to. As big and strong as she was, she could easily do more harm than good.

"Doesn't look like he's been too long without food." Ham muttered. "But damn! These bruises …" The creature snorted, seemingly in agreement. Ben's chest, stomach, and groin were so bruised they were almost black in places. "What the hell did they want from him?" He slipped an arm under Ben's shoulders, meaning to raise him up but the feel of torn skin made him freeze. The creature rumbled in obvious inquiry then twisted into a totally undignified position to peer at the unconscious man's back. The rumble became a series of sharp clacks and Ham realized she was snapping her teeth together.

After a moment, she straightened, reaching out to support Ben with a single broad hand and gesturing for Ham to look. He did, gritting his teeth at the sight of horribly torn flesh. "Those bastards! What the hell did they want?"

The creature rumbled, setting Ben back down. She reached for a sheet and easily tore it length-wise, creating a series of wide bandages. Wordlessly Ham took them, letting her support his father as he wound the makeshift bandages around him. That, he realized, was the best he could do. His father needed a doctor.

Ham reached for the walkie-talkie, pressing the 'talk' button. "Caleb?"

The other man answered quickly. "I don't think she likes that."

Ham glanced up at the creature, seeing that her ears were flat against her head and she was glowering again. He took a deep breath and spoke rapidly. "Send down one truck, no more then five people." He signed off and, after a moment, the creature's ears came up. "Hurts your ears, I bet."

The creature reached for a sheet and spread it out on the ground then reached over to pick Ben up as easily as Ham would have picked up a kitten. Gently she set him on the sheet and wrapped it around him before rising. She stepped to the cross, picked it up with deceptive ease and threw it hard enough to make it vanish in the underbrush.

"My sentiments exactly." Ham said. The creature rumbled then turned abruptly toward the road, ears alert. Suspecting that it was his people coming, Ham forced himself to stay relaxed, hoping the creature would follow his lead. She was indeed watching him, gauging his reaction and when he showed no alarm at the truck pulling into the camp, neither did she.

Five people climbed out of the truck, eyeing the creature suspiciously. Ham rose.

"Maggie, Elias. See if you can make a comfortable spot for him in the truck. The rest of you, search this place for anything we can use and get those bombs planted. And hurry! Those lizards will be back any minute." They rushed off to obey.

The creature, obviously realizing what they intended to do, walked over to the truck and peered inside. She drew back with a snort and looked around, finally striding into a building. She stepped out and into another one, this time coming out with a twin mattress tucked under her arm. She tossed it into the back of the truck. After an astonished moment, Maggie and Elias hastily dragged it to one side, shoving it against the wall.

The creature returned to Ben's side and once again picked him up. Ham grabbed the remaining sheets and reached the truck before her, tossing one to Maggie, who spread it over the mattress. The creature handed Ben to them and they gently maneuvered him into place.

"His back is bleeding." Maggie said.

"Nothing we can do about it now." Ham said grimly. "Maggie, you mind staying with him?"

"Sure." Reaching for a canteen, she sat down next to the injured man.

"Come on, let's go help loot this place."

The slender black man shook his head. "Probably not much here."

"Wanna bet?" One of the other rebels barreled out of a building, pushing a heavily loaded wheeled cart in front of her. "Apparently they left the infirmary stocked. There's even a locked drug cabinet."

"I'll take care of that. Empty the cart and bring it back." Elias pulled out his lockpicks and disappeared into the building.

Ham grinned and looked around. The creature, he realized had once more vanished. "Where'd the big lady go?" He bellowed, making more then one rebel jump. One of them gestured toward another building, the one the camp staff had been in right before they left.

Ham walked over to the building and peered inside, not surprised to see that it was the offices. Desks had been shoved aside to make room for the creature's bigger frame and he wasn't surprised to see the wooden floor staved in at various places. Luckily there wasn't a basement.

The creature was crouched uncomfortably over a computer, using a pencil to poke gingerly at the keyboard. He walked over to look at the unfamiliar characters on the screen. It was obvious she could read it and Ham frowned.

"Now how can you read that?" He muttered. The creature looked up at the sound of his voice and rumbled. Reaching over, she grabbed a box and emptied it by simply turning it upside down. Reaching over, she scooped up a handful of wafers, about the size and thickness of Hershey bars and dropped them into the box, looking at him intently before grabbing some more up and doing the same thing. He realized that she wanted him to gather up all the wafers and pack them up. He almost refused then paused, remembering that this creature had helped save his father's life and there must be a reason she wanted these items.

Taking the box, he began to toss in every wafer he could find. They had something to do with the computer, he saw; a way to store things, similar to a floppy disk. He grimaced. He hated computers, mainly because they tended to do nasty things whenever he got near one. It didn't help that his uncle was remarkably proficient with them.

He quickly searched every desk and every cubbyhole, even tossing in those that were still packaged up and obviously unused. Opening a drawer on the largest desk, obviously the commandant's desk and seemingly made out of an alien wood, he froze, staring at the items thrown carelessly into the drawer. For a moment, black rage blinded him then he set the box carefully down and reached in to lift out a familiar gold and silver wedding ring. His father, he remembered, had had it and its counterpart specially made. To see it here, tossed like a piece of junk into a drawer, angered him more then he thought possible. To see it somewhere other than on his father's finger made him sick.

"Tyler?"

Ham closed his hand over the ring and turned his head stiffly to look at Caleb, now standing in the doorway. There was a look in the older man's eyes that said he understood what Ham was going through but he was smart enough not to say anything, a restraint Ham was very grateful for. "Yeah?" His voice was hoarse with suppressed anger then he frowned. "I thought you were with the others."

"Elias called us down. Kitchen's fully stocked with food. We brought down the other truck to get loaded up." He glanced at the creature. "You almost done?"

Ham followed his look, seeing that the creature was in the processes of packing up the computer and several of its components in a box that once held something very different, though it looked like it would work all right. "I think so, yeah. Be out in a minute."

Caleb eyed him for a moment then nodded before walking back outside. Turning back to the drawer, Ham searched through it, finding first his father's watch … a present from his mother … then his wallet. It was the same familiar brown leather wallet, battered and well-worn, that he'd used for years. Ham frowned then he opened the wallet and relaxed, thankful to see an unfamiliar name on the identification. 'Bill Tucker' was the name on the driver's license and credit cards, all so well done as to look real. The picture of 'Bill' and his wife was just as false; Jake's lovely blonde girlfriend, Amy, stood in his mother's place and the three 'children', while bearing a minor resemblance to either Ben or Amy, were actually two of his father's students and one of his uncle's employees. There was even a picture of a family dog.

"Damn, Jake does good work." Ham muttered. Slipping the ring and watch into his jeans pocket and the wallet into a back pocket, he quickly double-checked to make sure he'd gotten all the wafers. Satisfied there weren't any more to be found, he turned to see the creature carefully lifting the now filled box.

"Well, you're ready. But do we have everything?" Ham stepped over to the filing cabinets and started opening drawers, hoping to find any paperwork that could help them. To his surprise, the cabinets were all empty.

The big creature rumbled and, when Ham looked at her, tapped the box she held lightly then gestured at the box of wafers. "They keep everything electronically? I suppose that makes sense. Of course, that probably means everything's encrypted and password-protected." He took a final look around the room, feeling certain he'd missed something. With a muttered curse, he returned to the big desk and searched it again, unable to squelch the feeling that something was off. It was only when he straightened, looking down at the desk, that he realized what it was.

He'd left all the drawers pulled out and, for the first time, he realized that the drawers were shorter than the desk. The creature noticed it at the same time and set her box down, moving to tower over the desk.

"Hidden compartment, I bet. Let's see if we can figure this out … Well, that works too." Ham said in amusement as the creature dug her fingers into the wood and tore the desk apart. The sharp crack of splintering wood brought Caleb and Elias running in, guns drawn.

"Tyler?" Caleb eyed the desk and the creature who'd torn it apart warily. She was looking rather pleased with herself.

"It's all right. The big lady's found us the commandant's hidden stash." Ham reached into the now exposed secret area and pulled out a handful of wafers. He hesitated, wanting to keep these separate from the others.

"Here." Caleb reached over and dumped out the contents of a small box, offering it to him. Ham slipped the wafers in then tucked the box securely into the other box.

"I think that was supposed to be some kind of safe." Elias commented and Ham grinned.

"Not so safe with the big lady around." He grunted, pulling out a sheaf of papers and a bunch of envelopes, dropping them into the box of wafers. He took one final look inside then, finally satisfied that they had everything, he picked up the box

"Okay, come on. We better get out of here." He walked from the building, pausing at the sight of another truck parked in front of another building with the remainder of the rebels filling it as quickly as possible.

"The food." Caleb reminded him.

Ham nodded and handed his burden up into the other truck, stepping aside so the creature could set her box carefully inside. She disappeared back into the building and came back with what looked like a printer and a box of other items, storing them with the computer before stepping back and glowering at the skies.

"I think we're about to get company. Everybody! Let's go!"

"What about her?" Elias asked. "She won't fit."

"She'll have to make her own way." Ham scrambled up into the truck and Elias slammed the gate up, a sound that made the creature jump. She snorted then resumed glaring at the skies. Ham hesitated then slapped his hand on the tailgate. "Let's go!"

The truck pulled away from the camp. "When did you time the bombs to go off?" Ham asked one of the rebels, a thin, dark-haired man named Nick Lenner.

"Twenty minutes from now." Nick's accent was pure mid-west and Ham sometimes wondered what he was doing here, on the east coast. He also sometimes wondered where a high-priced lawyer who had never been in the military learned how to rig explosives. Then again, maybe he didn't want to know.

"Good." Ham grunted, looking out of the back of the truck, not surprised to see the creature gone. "With any luck they'll be searching the buildings when they blow."

* * *

They'd been on the road less then ten minutes when the truck suddenly jerked to one side and Ham reached for his weapon, moving to peer from back of the truck. Behind him, he could hear Maggie using the walkie-talkie to ask Elias what had happened. He could hear the other man's curt reply.

"Just got startled. That big lady just appeared … I mean just appeared! … out of nowhere at the side of the road. She's following us somehow."

Ham reached over to take the walkie-talkie from Maggie. "I think I know how she's following us. Ignore her. But remind me to tell Gooder and the others about her when we reach base." He grinned briefly at the reaction her unexpected appearance could bring.

Handing the walkie-talkie back to Maggie, he checked on his father. Still unconscious but it seemed that his breathing had improved slightly and his color was a little better. Of course, just being off that damn cross was a big improvement. With the stress removed from his internal organs, breathing would be easier. Ham felt a pang of regret. His father was going to be a long time healing and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

For the first time, he noticed how swollen the fingers of his father's left hand were and examined them closer, realizing that his fingers had been broken when they had forcibly removed his wedding ring. He set the hand down carefully.

"What all did we get?" He asked suddenly, turning to settle against the wall by his father's head. Blade, called that because of her penchant for sharp, pointy weapons, looked up with dark blue eyes that were almost always amused, no matter what she was doing.

"From the look of it, the Visitors took control of the camp right before the work season was to begin. They must have stocked up right before hand. Lots of first aid equipment, some drugs. Nothing mind-blowing but everything's helpful." She ran her hands over short dirty-blonde hair and grinned cheerfully.

More out of habit then anything else, Ham scowled back then nodded, looking around the crowded truck. Besides the medical supplies, they had grabbed sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, even mattresses, all of which would be useful. That, along with a truck full of food, made for an excellent day's haul.

He looked back down at his father's face. The right side of his face was turning black and Ham suspected his cheekbone was broken. Both his eyes were swollen and black as well. He wondered what they had beaten him with.

"Ham?" Maggie said tentatively, her face concerned. "His back …."

Ham's face tightened. "They whipped him. Flayed the skin off his back."

Someone hissed in sympathy, someone else gagged.

"Maybe … maybe we should turn him on his side?" Maggie asked and Ham could have kicked himself.

"Yeah. I didn't think of that."

"I'd say you were a little distracted." Maggie said kindly as they gently turned the man on his side. For the first time, Ben made a sound, moaning with pain. Ham stayed crouched over the man, waiting to see if he was waking up but Ben sank deeper into unconsciousness. Ham hoped desperately that he wasn't bleeding internally as he settled back down, this time next to the older man. Maggie shifted to sit by Ben's head.

"Here." Nick shoved several pillows at them. "Put them behind him. They'll cushion his back if we take a quick turn."

"Good idea." Ham grunted as he placed the pillows behind the unconscious man. Maggie shifted a pillow under Ben's head and Ham muttered a quiet 'thank you."

"We should be back at the base in a few hours." Maggie said and Ham nodded grimly.

"Any morphine in the medical supplies?" He asked suddenly.

Blade grimaced. "No. Some over the counter painkillers and antibiotics but that's about it."

Ham nodded again, eyes locked on his father's face, his stomach tight with a worry he didn't dare allow to reflect on his face. If something went wrong now, they wouldn't be able to save him. If he had extensive internal damage there would be nothing they could do even if they did make it to the base.

Ham forced those thoughts from his mind, refusing to dwell on what might happen and concentrated on what was happening now.

* * *

They stopped halfway back to the base, pulling the truck into a thick grove of trees to hide it from any shuttles. While the rest of the rebels stepped out to stretch their legs and keep a wary eye out for any Visitors or police, Caleb helped Tyler clean his father up. Unconscious or not, bodily functions were still working; which, Caleb reflected, was actually a good sign, though not necessarily one he cared to deal with.

Once that was done, Blade slipped into the truck to keep an eye on the man. Caleb went over to talk to Elias for a few minutes before starting to round people up. It was then he noticed Tyler was gone. He frowned, snagging Sancho's sleeve as he passed. "Where'd Tyler go?" He asked quietly.

Sancho jerked his head toward the woods. Caleb hesitated then headed that way, wishing Chris had been with this truck rather than going with the other one. They had split up shortly after leaving the camp to keep from looking too suspicious, the other truck taking a different route back to the base.

He found Tyler standing on a ridge not too far from where they had stopped, staring at the Los Angeles mothership, which was so big that it could be seen from miles away. Caleb could see his face, see the hate and anger etched there. There was grief there as well and, Caleb realized, more than a little guilt.

So Donovan was wrong. Tyler wasn't made of stone.

A slight movement caught Caleb's eye and he turned his head, surprised to see the huge creature standing in the shadows of the trees, watching him. The head of her huge axe rested on the ground, her hands folded on the handle's end. She was, Caleb realized, watching over Tyler. After a moment, the big lady turned her attention back to Tyler and Caleb followed suite, walking over to stand just behind and to one side of the other man.

"Tyler." He said quietly, though he suspected Ham already knew he was there. At least the other man's face was once more impassive.

"Tayler." Ham replied with some humor, not taking his eyes from the mothership, and Caleb grinned slightly.

"Weird, isn't it? They come here looking just like us and no one ever stopped to consider that maybe they would end up being just like us."

"You mean greedy, lying bastards? Some of us did. But no one wanted to listen to us." Ham paused. "You think maybe it would have been better if they didn't look anything like us? If they looked like the big lady maybe?"

Caleb snorted. "The big lady may look like a walking nightmare but she helped your father. And she's had amble opportunity to kill you."

Ham threw him a questioning look and Caleb realized he didn't know the big lady was near. He nodded his head toward the shadows and Ham turned to look, eyebrow arching in surprise.

"For something so big she sure is quiet."

Caleb nodded. "And the Visitors don't like her. Or at least they're afraid of her."

"That's a plus in her favor. But does that mean we should trust her?"

Caleb opened his mouth then paused. "This may sound weird but I suspect she'd be disappointed if we did."

Ham looked as surprised as Caleb had ever seen him. "Funny, that's what I was thinking." He eyed the big lady for a long moment then walked over to stand in front of her. Caleb stayed where he was, watching this tableau warily.

Ham was maybe five-ten and the big lady towered over him by a good three feet. Her axe was taller than he was. There was a glint of humor in those storm-gray eyes and a vast amount of intelligence as well as she stared back down at Tyler, as steadily as he was staring up at her. Suddenly Ham raised his hand, resting it lightly on the ivory armor covering the creature's arm. He jerked it back just as quickly and the creature gave a deep rumble that Caleb realized was laughter.

"What?" He asked sharply.

Ham shook his head. "I got a weird feeling on my skin when I touched her armor. Almost like a tingling." He eyed the big lady thoughtfully. "She doesn't seem surprised by it." Ham studied his hand, seeing no difference there; no burns or obvious reaction. "Weird." Then he shook himself, looking up at the darkening sky. "We better get going."

The two men walked back toward the truck, leaving the big lady standing in the approaching gloom, staring out at the mothership.


	2. Interlude 1

She stared out over the green of the forest, studying the shape of the ship hovering over the huge city in the distance. She'd seen that ship before, in some specs or another sent to her within the last few years. It had seemed to be such an awkward shape that many of the other First Warriors had wondered why the _Hissarsi _would choose that shape for their ships. Of course, there had also been much wondering about why they were wearing such odd skin coverings as well.

Now she knew why. Human disguises, an attempt to fool the humans into thinking they were a similar species. Did the humans even know that the _Hissarsi_ were in reality a reptilian species? She looked over her shoulder at the sound of the vehicle driving away and suspected they did. Or, at least, some of them did. But why were the _Hissarsi_ here? She had tried to find the answers in the _Hissarsi_ computer she'd found but everything was encrypted and under layers of security. Her kind had never been proficient with computers but she'd have to try to get more information, if only to ease her own mind.

First she'd have to get a power source for the computer. And maybe re-read all that information on the _Hissarsi_ activities that had been sent to her over the past few years. She hadn't read it as thoroughly as she should have. The answers could very well be there.

With that thought, she returned home.

* * *

Martin stepped down from the shuttle, looking around the destroyed camp impassively. Every building had been destroyed and some were still burning. A couple groups of Visitor workers were trying to put the fires out. He paused, almost doing a double-take when he saw his cousin, Giselle, among them then he remembered that she doubled as a disaster technician. He looked around for Claudius.

His uncle was standing by one of the destroyed buildings, talking with Steven. Claudius' son and personal aide, Julian, was nearby, taking inventory of the damage and punching it into a portable computer. None of them look too happy.

The two men broke off their conversation at his approach and Steven looked pointedly around.

"Diana not bothering to come down?"

"She thought that you'd have everything under control." Martin said. "This time, at least."

Steven glowered at this oblique reference to Juliet Parrish's rescue. "Of course." He said, through what Martin guessed were clenched teeth. He turned back to Claudius. "I'll expect a more detailed report when you return to the mothership." Steven turned and walked away, leaving Claudius glaring daggers at his back.

Once Steven's shuttle had left, leaving behind a token squad of troopers and the disaster technicians, Martin took another more detailed look at the damage.

"It won't be rebuilt I take it."

"No. Not worth the effort." Claudius snapped then he pulled himself together with an obvious effort. "We may choose a different location and try again."

Martin nodded absently, making sure they could not be overheard before continuing. "There are rumors …" He started in a low voice.

"There are always rumors." Claudius said irritably and Martin threw him an angry look. Claudius had been recommended by John to come to LA and run this showcase camp, a move that had, at first, made Martin happy. Not only was Claudius family but he was a member of the Fifth Column, working to undermine the Leader's plans for this planet and its people. And he had brought not only his son, Julian, along but Giselle, a distant cousin he had never met before. But Claudius, he was finding, had his own way of doing things.

"They say there was a human prisoner here." Martin said curtly and Claudius threw him a look that made him feel as if he hadn't even reached his first molt yet.

"That is what this camp is for, Martin." He started to turn away.

"Not yet it's not." Martin snapped. Claudius looked at him, obviously surprised. "And it isn't for the torture of humans! Even in Diana's plans, it wasn't." Which was true. Diana had wanted the camp to be a place where select families of scientists would be held prisoner with no threats and no abuse and where inmates would be made available for interviews.

Claudius' face tightened and he looked hurriedly over at the others working nearby. Wordlessly he drew Martin toward the privacy of the woods, Julian trailing along behind.

"And you believe I would torture a human?" Claudius asked curtly once they were out of earshot of the others.

"Too many people talk about it. They say …" Martin's foot struck something hard and he bit back a curse, looking downward. He paused, studying what he had kicked. "They say that you had him crucified and left to die." Reaching down, he pulled the brush away from the wooden beams tied into a cross, looking at the red blood staining it then up at his uncle, his eyes furious. Julian, standing behind Claudius, looked dumbfounded and maybe a little sick.

Claudius simply looked at him. "Once the human was captured, I couldn't simply let him go. The others in the camp would have wondered."

Martin could understand that part; there were very few Fifth Columnists among the troops. "You could have simply held him prisoner. Or found a way to remove him from the camp. Or even simply killed him. There was no need to torture him." He said coldly.

Claudius wavered then sighed. "I needed some answers from him." He finally admitted.

"About what?"

"Martin, not all humans are on the side of the Resistance just as not all of our people are on the Leader's side. Sometimes we need to get information from these humans." Claudius said evasively.

Martin frowned. "What kind of information?" He pressed.

Claudius obviously didn't like being questioned, especially by someone so much his junior but Martin was the ranking officer in the Fifth Column. His benign look became a glower.

"How did the cross get out here?" Julian asked suddenly.

"What?" Martin said, startled.

"How did the cross get here? There's no drag marks, no footprints … so how'd it get out here?"

Martin followed his eyes, his frown deepening. Julian was right, there was no evidence of the cross being carried into the woods.

"The _Kirien_ threw it." Giselle said almost at Martin's elbow and he jumped. "They're inclined to do things like that, when they're angry."

Martin looked down at her and she looked back with a wide-eyed innocence that was, for some reason, unnerving. Short and slender with short, tousled black hair and wide greenish-yellow eyes, she sometimes reminded him of a member of what some humans referred as 'the little people'. What was the word he was looking for? Oh, right. Pixyish. like something that had stepped full-blown out of a human fairy tale.

"What _Kirien_?" Claudius said sharply, shooting a quick look at Martin. "What are you talking about?"

"There was a _Kirien_ here, wasn't there? At least everyone says so." Claudius started to snap out a sharp admonishment but Giselle cut him off sweetly. "Not to mention that her hoof prints are everywhere." She blinked in obvious puzzlement. "What would a _Kirien_ be doing here?"

"Good question." Martin said curtly. He had initially dismissed the rumors of a _Kirien_ on Earth, not able to think why one would be here. "Claudius?"

Claudius swallowed, glaring at the girl. When he spoke, it sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. "The human wore an old, well-worn Trinity medallion. Carved of ivory."

Martin rocked back on his heels, surprised. "_Kirien_ ivory?"

Claudius made an impatient gesture. "Or _Rathorn_. It hardly matters. He said he found it."

Martin's mind raced. What would a Trinity medallion, especially one carved from _Kirien_ or _Rathorn_ ivory, be doing on Earth? They were prized possessions, passed down through the generations. "And you were torturing him to discover where he had gotten it." He threw his uncle a disgusted look. "If it was old and well-worn then he probably did just find it. Most likely a ship crashed here centuries ago, maybe millennium ago."

"It could be important. If other species have contact with Earth …"

"They could come help the humans!" Giselle said brightly.

Claudius threw her a dark look. "There are some species we don't want helping the humans."

"But surely the _Kirien_ …"

"The _Kirien_ are born meddlers. They may help the humans but at our expense." Claudius said curtly before turning back to Martin. "None of which matters right now. The human is gone. The _Kirien_ is gone. She obviously took him with her."

"Why?" Martin said impatiently.

"How should I know?" Claudius said irritably. "Maybe she wanted a snack."

"The _Kirien_ don't eat sentient beings." Martin said curtly. Which, he reflected bitterly, made them better than his own people. He turned and looked back to the camp. "She didn't destroy the camp."

"No." Claudius admitted. "Most likely there were humans waiting for chance to destroy it and when we left, they took it." Claudius threw Martin a quick look. "Did your contact with the Resistance say anything about attacking this camp?"

Martin frowned. He knew his uncle wanted him to stay in closer contact with the LA Resistance, had even hinted that maybe the group should keep the Fifth Column notified of their raids so that they could make sure none of their fellow Fifth Columnists would be harmed. At first, the idea had appealed to many members of the Fifth Column, most of who had lost friends and family in unexpected raids. That feeling had lasted until Giselle had innocently asked if that meant they would be keeping the LA Resistance informed of sweeps done by the troopers so they could get their friends and family removed from threatened towns, an almost impossible task. Luckily, the majority of the Fifth Columnists had seen the futility and danger of trying to keep each other informed and the proposal had been dropped.

"No." Martin said. "But then he doesn't let me know their every move. I don't _want_ to know their every move." He added sternly, a reminder of their decision. "The problem now is what happens if they find out that a human was captured and tortured by a member of the Fifth Column." The last bit came out from between gritted teeth.

Claudius flicked a hand irritably. "It's doubtful they'll ever find out about it. If they do, tell them that he was a collaborator. Which he very well could have been. Especially since the majority of humans are collaborators, if only in their passivity." There was a sneer in the older man's voice and Martin swallowed a terse reminder that the majority of their own people acted the same way. A movement caught his eye and he stepped to one side to get a better look through the branches.

"I think Gregory wants you."

Claudius looked back into the camp to see that leader of the trooper squad was indeed searching for him. With a grumbled curse, he stalked toward him. Julian, after another sick look at the cross, followed. Before Martin could move, Giselle tugged at his sleeve.

"He's lying." She said quietly. "Of maybe he really thinks he's telling the truth. The _Kirien_ didn't take the human from the planet."

"How do you know?" Martin asked sharply.

"Because the _Kirien's_ hoof prints are all though the camp. More importantly, her hoof prints go back and forth from where a truck was parked. She helped to pack a truck. Besides, she would know that trying to take a wounded human back home would undoubtedly kill him."

"How would you know that?"

Giselle meet his eyes without flinching and with the barest of a smile. "Because I'm a Merchant's brat, remember?" She said without rancor then she was slipping past him and back into the camp.

Martin winced at her wording. 'Merchant's brat' was an insult that he himself had once used, back when he still believe that those who dealt with other species were the lowest of the low, pariahs among their own people. Back then, he'd been so sure of it that he had never noticed that those pariahs were in reality the freest of their people, able to travel where they wished.

Martin strolled back into the camp, studying the ground. Sure enough, there were _Kirien_ hoof prints throughout the camp, easily recognizable by the symbols carved into the hard ivory hooves. And they were everywhere. After a moment, he straightened, frowning. Claudius was right, the _Kirien_ were notorious meddlers. Of course, having them meddle on the humans' side could be a good thing. For the humans, that is.

What it meant for the Visitors, Loyalists or Fifth Columnists, he could only guess at.

* * *

Giselle drifted back though the camp, ignoring the supervisor's call. She was, after all, on her break. She paused at one of the clearest of the hoof prints and crouched, studying it with a faint smile. Unlike the others, she could read the symbols imprinted in the dirt. They had been carved into the hoof in such a way so that, when the bearer walked, the symbols were stamped correctly into the walking surface. And she could read this one very clearly.

_Darkness Rising, First Warrior of Rathorn, Sister to Hellspawn._

She scattered the print with a sweep of her hand and smiled. This was going to make life very interesting.


	3. Part 2

It was almost midnight when they finally reached the base. Confusion reigned for several minutes since they weren't expected for another couple days. While Ham appreciated their diligence, he chaffed at the delay at getting his father to medical help. He tried not to think about the fact that the only medical person in the base was someone he didn't trust in the least. Instead, he concentrated on helping Maggie and Nick gently shift his father to a stretcher liberated from the camp. The older man was so deeply unconscious that he didn't even twitch, even though it must have been very painful.

What seemed like hours later, they finally pulled directly into the base, stopping in front of the building used as the infirmary. Ham threw the canvas back and vaulted over the tailgate, not surprised to see Mike Donovan and Julie Parrish running toward them.

"What happened?" Donovan asked sharply. "The camp …"

"Mission accomplished. Camp destroyed." Ham said curtly, pulling down the tailgate. "Plus we managed to loot the place."

"That wasn't part of the plan!" Donovan barked and Ham half-turned toward him, his face tight with anger.

"We can report later." Caleb cut in, grabbing Ham's shoulder and looking directly at Julie as he spoke. "You got a patient, doc." He nodded toward the back of the truck.

"Who …" Julie didn't wait for an answer. She scrambled into the back of the truck, helped up by Maggie.

"Who was hurt?" Donovan glanced around at the small group of returnees, all of whom deferred to Ham.

"They had a prisoner." Ham said shortly, reluctant to relay what had happened.

"Tell him." Caleb said suddenly, grinning. "I wanna see his eyes get big."

Ham hesitated then shrugged. In a few terse sentences he told Donovan what had occurred, not mentioning that the prisoner was his father. Donovan stared at him then looked at a grinning Caleb. "You're kidding, right?" It was obvious Donovan didn't believe him and Ham felt a surge of anger. He opened his mouth to give a heated retort, pausing at the sound of a sharp 'pop' behind him and the feel of a sudden breeze. In front of him, Donovan's face went white as he stumbled backwards and Ham knew the creature had suddenly appeared behind him. He looked at Caleb, who was now looking behind him as well.

"I think the big lady can teleport." He said calmly.

"I think you're right. It would explain her sudden comings and goings." The black man grinned suddenly. "We have to find out her name. Calling her the big lady just doesn't seem polite."

"It'll do for now." Ham turned to look up at the creature. She looked back, grinning with surprisingly sharp teeth. Thankfully not many people were up and about this time of night. "Parrish! How's he looking?"

Julie appeared in the back of the truck, looking only a little startled at the sight of the creature. Either she had overheard Ham's explanation or Maggie had warned her.

"Bad." She said grimly and Ham barely managed to keep the sharp-edged worry from his face. "I'm surprised he's still alive." Julie spoke bluntly, knowing Ham wouldn't thank her for false hope and platitudes.

Ham heard the big lady snort and felt her touch his shoulder lightly. He couldn't help but feel that she knew exactly what was going on even though she couldn't understand a word they were saying.

"If he's made it this long then I'd say his chances of surviving are pretty good, barring any complications, but it's not going to be easy for him." Julie continued, eying the big lady nervously.

"Not surprised." Maggie said. "They did a real number on him."

"Let's get him inside." Julie jumped down but before anyone could move, the big lady had leaned her axe against the side of the truck and reached up to roll the canvas back to expose most of the interior of the truck. Being taller than the truck, it was easy for her to do so. She looked down at the injured man then at Ham inquiringly.

"We got it." He said as he reached for the end of the stretcher. "But thanks."

The big lady rumbled and stayed where she was, watching intently as Ham and Caleb gently pulled the stretcher from the truck. Donovan and Nick stepped forward to take the other end, the former freezing as he caught his first glimpse of the injured man's face.

"Gape later, Mike." Julie said curtly and Donovan snapped out of his surprise. He took a corner firmly before shooting a quick look at the big lady.

"She …"

"She carried him to the truck." Ham interrupted curtly. "But she can't help here. She won't fit into the building. Gently!" He barked out sharply as the stretcher bumped onto the tailgate. The big lady echoed his admonishment with a deep rumble, stomping her hoof and flipping back her ears, a gesture that made her look even fiercer. Ham smiled grimly at the others' half-wary, half-frightened looks. "I doubt she saved his life to have it endangered here." He said dryly.

"How …" Donovan started.

"Later!" Julie cut him off sharply. "We can get full reports once the wounded are taken care of."

Nothing more was said as they carried the stretcher into the infirmary and shifted the injured man gently onto an examining table. Julie started to gather supplies, snapping orders as she went.

"Caleb, run over and see who's awake and can help me. Not Robert, if you can help it. He's been working himself to exhaustion. Harmony or Fran or just see who is still awake that can help. Ham …"

"I'm staying." Ham said curtly and Julie wavered, looking at him then, seeing the unrelenting look in his eyes, she sighed.

"All right, fine. When should the other truck be here?"

"Maybe a half hour or so. They took a longer route." Ham said.

"Mike, would you mind watching for that truck and maybe get them both unloaded? Don't forget to make an inventory of what's on them."

"Right." Mike hesitated, glancing out the window. "What about … that … whatever …"

"The big lady?" Ham supplied. "Just leave her alone for now."

"Is it safe having her here?" Donovan asked curtly.

"No idea. Have any idea how to make her leave?" Ham gave the other man a tooth-bared wolf's grin.

"Mike! Ham!" Julie took a deep breath then jumped at a sudden sharp crack. Ham automatically reached for his gun, whirling to face the door.

"It's okay, folks." Caleb appeared in the doorway. "The big lady's just testing the strength of the wooden sidewalks." He looked behind him and added. "They're not strong enough to support her."

"Keep an eye on her, will you Caleb?" Julie asked.

"She's kinda hard to miss. A couple folks are getting dressed to come over." Caleb vanished back out the door then reappeared a moment later, holding something out with an air of uncertainty. "I think she wants me to give this to you." He offered it to Ham.

Ham took the object gingerly. It was a bluish-green jar, large enough that he had to hold it with both hands but just the right size, he thought, for the big lady. He glanced at Julie then shrugged, setting it down to twist the top off. Julie hissed a warning but Ham ignored her, looking at the contents, a thick salve the same color as the jar.

"Medicine?" He asked Julie and she shrugged.

"Maybe medicine for her. But for us?"

Ham arched an eyebrow then, before anyone could stop him, he reached out to skim a finger lightly across the smooth surface of the salve, jerking back his hand with a hiss.

"Ham?" Julie said sharply.

He grabbed a tissue to wipe the salve off. "Numb. My fingertip's gone numb." He turned to look thoughtfully at his father, remembering the state of his back.

Julie guessed at his thoughts and spoke sharply. "We can't use it on him!"

"Even if it'll help?" Ham asked.

"We don't know if it will help. We need to do some testing on it first." Julie said firmly and it was Ham's turn to waver.

"You might change your mind once you get the bandages off." He finally said.

Julie looked at the man lying on the table and the bloodstained makeshift bandages covering his back. Steeling herself, she stepped to his side.

"What kind of injuries does he have?" She asked Ham curtly. She had little doubt Ham could give her an accurate evaluation. Unnoticed by both of them, Donovan and Caleb slipped from the building.

As they worked at getting the bandages off, Ham outlined the injuries he had seen. Harmony came in while they worked and, without a word, stepped in to help. By the time they were done, Julie found herself almost agreeing with Ham about the medicine. Ben's back from neck to hips was bloody and raw, the lash having literally stripped the skin from his back. She shook her head.

"This is recent." Julie said. "Last twenty-four hours, I think. Let's get him cleaned up a little better." She paused, glancing up as the door opened.

"I thought you could use some more help." Ruby Engel stepped in more sprightly then a woman her age had a right to. She looked at Ham with an arched eyebrow. "I don't think your big lady likes Donovan."

Ham grinned. "I'm liking her more and more every minute." Julie shot him a dirty look, which he ignored. "What's she doing?"

"Ignoring him. Totally." She slipped off her jacket and rolled her sleeves up, not even wincing at the wounds covering Ben's back. "Wicked." She said quietly. "Robin wanted to come over and help but she caught sight of your big lady and changed her mind."

"Good thing." Ham grunted. "She doesn't need to see this." Harmony set a bowl of warm water on the table nearby and Ham reached for a sponge, face impassive as he helped clean his father's wounds.

"I don't know how the hell he's still alive. Extreme stubbornness must run in the family." Julie shot a look at Tyler and was surprised by the slight smile he gave her. Well, he had to have inherited it from somewhere. "No signs of sexual assault though I'm sure some of the body searches probably came close." She spoke from bitter experience and the impassive look on Ham's face cracked a little, his hand dropping protectively over his father's. For the first time since her rescue, Julie sensed a measure of understanding from the former government agent then Ham looked away, back down at his father's battered body.

"These scraps." He said quietly, indicating a bloody scrap the length of Ben's forearm. "Looks like from concrete maybe."

"The Visitors aren't very gentle with their prisoners." Julie said dryly. More scraps were evident on the man's legs as well. Ruby was cleaning them out as best she could, foregoing gentleness for thoroughness. Despite how painful it must have been, Ben didn't stir or make a sound.

Julie bit back her worry, assuming a professional air. "It looks like he was beaten first. I'm pretty sure he has a couple cracked ribs but there doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding. Did he cough up or breathe out any blood on the way here?"

Ham grunted. "No."

"Good sign. From the look of the bruising I'd say they weren't trying to do permanent damage, just cause a lot of pain."

"Didn't want him dying too soon." Ham said grimly and Julie winced then continued gamely.

"No other broken bones. The whip was next and we will have to clean those lash marks very carefully. I suspect those are why the big lady gave us that salve. I still have to check it out first though. How's your finger?"

Ham glanced at the finger in question. "Still numb. Hasn't spread any. I'll let you know when the numbness is gone."

"It might be different if we put it on open wounds." She looked at her patient, taking a deep breath. "Then they crucified him. Another hour, maybe not even that long, and I suspect the damage to his arms would have been permanent but everything else seems to be working … how well, I have no idea. Separately, these injuries are bad enough. Together, he's in for a whole lot of hurt."

Ham grimaced then hesitated. "Come dawn, I'm going to send Chris out to find out what happened." He said curtly and Julie realized he was just telling her this as a matter of courtesy. "My father shouldn't have been anywhere near that camp and I need to know how he got there and why they were torturing him."

"We all need to know that." Julie corrected and, after a moment's hesitation, Ham nodded. "He's lost blood …"

"A positive." Ham interrupted curtly. "Same as mine."

"Good. We have some in stock as well. If we need to do a transfusion we can. How about medicines? Is he allergic to anything?"

Ham shook his head. "Not any medicines, no."

"Good." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Let's get him on his stomach and we'll take care of those lash marks."

Ham helped shift his father into a more comfortable position. Ruby unfolded a sheet to cover him, a move that made Ham smile without humor. Ruby noticed and said something scoldingly in Yiddish. To Julie's surprise, Ham said something back in the same language.

"You speak Yiddish?" She asked, looking up from the medical supplies she was preparing on a rollaway tray.

Ham didn't answer; he just nodded toward his father. "Are you going to try and stitch up those wounds?"

"There's nothing we can stitch up." She pointed out and Ham glanced at his father's back. She was right; there wasn't enough skin left to stitch up. "We're just going to have to do the best we can. We clean the wounds first then use a lot of antibiotic cream." She frowned at the two large sized tubes resting on the tray. "I've already given him a shot of antibiotics and a sedative … I don't want him waking up during this. We'll need to set up an IV … Harmony, would you mind getting one ready?" She hesitated. "I hate to say this, Ham, but this is going to seriously deplete our resources."

'I know. Make a list of what'll you'll need … he'll need …" Ham nodded at his father. "And I'll send it with Chris. He'll get any supplies needed."

Julie almost asked how he would get the supplies then decided she really didn't want to know. Instead, she reached for an alcohol-soaked piece of gauze and began to clean the wounds thoroughly.

Ham stepped back and out of the way. With the three women working on his father, there was no room for him and he was only getting in the way. He finally settled into a nearby chair. If they needed his help, they'd ask for it. Once or twice he glanced out the window to see the big lady strolling casually by, exploring the area. He had a suspicion Donovan thought he trusted her, which only went to show that Donovan didn't know him very well at all. It wasn't trust that kept him from protesting about the big lady's presence, it was necessity. He could see no way to get her to leave or to keep her from returning. Plus, despite what Donovan might think of him, he was curious about her.

* * *

The second truck had arrived forty minutes after the first and the big lady was in the process of unloading it. Her axe leaned against a nearby building while she casually pulled out boxes and set them into stacks as tall as she could manage. Caleb was trying to convince her not to stack them so high, an almost impossible situation since it was obvious the big lady didn't understand English. But that didn't stop Caleb from trying. 

"Look, we can't have those stacks any taller than him!" Caleb yanked Sancho over and pointed at him.

"Hey!" The other man said indignantly.

"Relax. I just need to give her a visual to work off of."

It was crude but the big lady seemed to get the idea as she restacked the boxes to a lower height. Sancho glowered and mumbled something before grabbing a couple boxes and carrying them into the kitchen's storeroom.

Nearby, Donovan wrote out everything that was being off-loaded, making note of the numbers and making sure everything went to where it were supposed to go. As he worked, he peppered Caleb with questions about what had happened. The older man gave him the condensed version, with some of the others adding commentary as needed.

"And Tyler didn't pitch a fit when he saw her?" Donovan asked incredulously.

"Hey, she was helping us. And it's not like she's a lizard." He ignored the dark look Donovan gave him. "I mean, look at her. She's about as far from the Visitors as can be."

"And they were terrified of her." Sancho cut in.

"Why?" That got Donovan a bunch of looks he had to admit he deserved. "Okay, I get the why." He grumbled and returned his concentration to taking inventory. He had to admit the raiding party had gotten a lot of useful items. They would have to discard the mattress the injured man had been lying on; it was covered with body fluids. The sheets as well but everything else was usable. Especially the food. They always needed food.

And toilet paper. Donovan winced at the memory of his brief leadership of the group and the time he'd forgotten to put toilet paper on the shopping list. Right now the big lady was hauling out big boxes of toilet paper and handing them off to waiting humans. He moved over to peer into the nearest truck. It was almost empty, thanks to the big lady. He quickly wrote down what was still there then stepped aside to let her lift out the remaining boxes

* * *

"Ham?" He heard Ruby say his name softly and he jerked upright, realizing, much to his surprise, that he'd dozed off. The old woman was standing a safe distance away, smiling slightly. 

"How long …"

"Not too long. A couple of hours. We just finished."

Ham stood, silently cursing the stiffness in his legs. He hated falling asleep in the presence of others. Not only because it left him vulnerable but because he might get caught in a nightmare that could force him to reveal more than he wanted.

"How's he doing?" Ham eyed the IVs now in his father's arm. A catheter had been inserted as well and he suppressed a grimace. It wouldn't be the first time he'd had to deal with such things.

"The best I can say is that he's stable." Julie said quietly. "He's lost blood but not enough to warrant a transfusion, at least not yet. His pulse is fairly strong, he's breathing well. Unfortunately we don't have adequate monitoring equipment."

Ham gave her an amused look. "Have that on your list?"

Julie flushed and thrust a piece of paper at him. He ran an eye down the list, arching an eyebrow at a couple of the items.

"They would be helpful all around." Julie said stiffly, knowing he'd spotted a couple pieces of equipment that his father didn't currently need.

"Yeah, that's fine." He looked at her. "I can't make any guarantees but if there's any extras, Chris'll try and bring them back. On the other hand, you'll have one big plus right off."

"Oh?"

Ham smiled slightly. "Chris won't come back without my mother and she's a nurse."

"Oh!" Julie rocked back on her heels, surprised for some reason. "That will be helpful." Even if all she did was take care of Ben that would free up others to do their regular duties.

"She usually acts as an on-call nurse wherever they may be. Nurses are always in demand." Looking suddenly as if he'd said too much, Ham shoved the list into his pocket. "Are you going to leave him out here?"

"No, there's a bed in the back room. I've sent Harmony over to ask Alice if she'll sit with him. We need to get some sleep."

For the first time, Ham really looked at the woman. There were black circles under her eyes and she looked exhausted. "I can get him back there. You go to bed."

"You'll need help."

Ham didn't argue and between the two of them, with some help from Ruby, they got the older man transferred to the bed in the back room. Gently, Ham shifted him into a more comfortable position and pulled the sheet over him, making sure that any tubing wasn't tangled.

"We'll have to watch for bedsores and …" The rest of Julie's words were drowned out by a yawn and Ham frowned.

"Go on. I'll stay with him until Alice arrives." He said sternly and Julie nodded. She turned to leave the room, pausing as Ham called after her. "And Parrish?" He hesitated then spoke in gruff tones. "Thanks. I owe you one."

Julie paused, looking back over her shoulder. Tyler's face was once again impassive, dark eyes expressionless. She knew what his opinion of her was, his opposition to rescuing her but once it had become apparent the group wanted her back, he'd helped, despite his doubts. "I'd say we're even." She said quietly and something flashed briefly in those dark eyes, something remarkably close to respect then the man was turning back to his father. Julie slipped from the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Ham waited until the door was firmly closed before dropping to a knee to search his father's face. He knew very well that he looked like his father, the same sharp features, the same high cheekbones, the same … and he grimaced, running his hand over his own thinning hair … receding hairline. At fifty-seven, his father's graying hair had pretty much receded to ear-level but he made up for it by sporting a beard. All he'd gotten from his mother, he reflected, were her eyes. 

Ham rested his hand lightly on the side of his father's face, his jaw working then he rose, looking around the room for the first time. It was larger then he thought, with the double bed and a battered easy chair. There was enough room for a sleeping bag and he made a mental note to bring one in so he could sleep here at night. He eyed the window thoughtfully, finally deciding to keep it closed, at least for now.

There was a soft knock at the door and he glanced in that direction. "Come." He said curtly and it opened enough for Alice Reynolds to slip through. She had a large mug of coffee in one hand and a plate of food in the other.

The kitchen's open?" He said in surprise.

"It's almost seven." Alice grinned at the look on his face.

He glanced at his watch and grimaced. "So it is. Have you seen Chris?"

Alice shook her head. "He's up and around, I know that much."

"How about the big lady?"

Alice gave him an odd look. "No. Apparently she vanished an hour or so ago."

"Thanks." He started toward the door then paused. "If he should wake up, send someone for me right away." He didn't wait for any acknowledgement as he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He leaned back against it briefly, letting his anger surged through him. What he'd said earlier to Parrish was true; his father should not have been anywhere near that camp. So how the hell had he gotten there and why was that scaly bastard torturing him? His father … his father was no soldier. Hell, he barely knew one end of a gun from another! He wouldn't have been involved in any raids. But he had been carrying false identification so maybe …

Ham cut off that thought. He could speculate for days and he probably wouldn't get anywhere near the truth. He'd been out of touch for longer than he liked. Walking across the room, he stepped out the door, closing it firmly behind him.

Once outside, he stopped, taking deep breaths of the cool air. The sun was just creeping over the horizon and he wasn't surprised to see movement by the carpool. He strolled in that direction, finally stopping near a big well-used motorcycle that Chris was carefully checking out. The big man looked up, reaching over to grab and toss Ham's leather jacket over to him. With a grin of thanks, he pulled it on.

"All ready?"

"Yeah. Want me to start at the compound?"

Ham nodded, marveling at how well the other man knew him. "But be careful. It's probably crawling with Visitors."

"No worries." He swung onto the bike. Equipment was strapped behind him, enough to keep him out for a week. "I told Linda what channel I'd be using and when I'll be calling in."

Ham nodded. "Here." He pulled the list Parrish had given him from his pocket and handed it to the other man. "See if you can get any of these supplies." Chris nodded, stuffing the list into his jacket pocket. Ham stepped back as Chris started up the bike then he was gone. Ham watched him until he vanished from sight then turned to walk back into town, meaning to scrounge up some breakfast and finding a place to eat. He hated eating with others almost as much as he hated falling asleep in the presence of others.

"Tyler!" Donovan was striding angrily toward him and Ham paused, wondering what his problem was now. "Where's Farber going?" He asked curtly.

Tyler's lips thinned. "None of your damn business." He brushed past the other man and headed for the kitchens.

"Damn it, Tyler! You can't be sending out people for your own personal reasons!" Donovan barked out and Tyler stopped dead, turning to look at the other man in blatant astonishment. "You don't run this group!"

"Neither do you!" Tyler shot back. "And maybe you should talk to the person who does before you blow a fucking gasket!"

The few people out and about this early in the morning stared at the mercenary in surprise. Despite his macho reputation, Tyler rarely, if ever, swore.

That stopped Donovan in his tracks. "Julie knows?"

"Yeah, of course Parrish knows." He said in disgust then added. "And you're a fine one to be bitching about Chris going out, with or without Parrish knowing. Half the time you don't bother to let anyone know before you sneak out."

"That's different." Donovan said curtly.

"Why? Because it's you doing it rather than me?" Tyler snapped, totally fed up with the other man's attitude.

Donovan flushed, already sorry for his ill-chosen words and aware they were drawing a crowd. Embarrassment made him even angrier but before he could snap back, there was a now familiar 'pop' and the rush of displaced air. More than a few people jumped back in surprise, including Donovan and Ham realized that most of the people at the camp didn't even know about the big lady, as evidenced by the reaching of weapons.

"Stand down!" He barked out in his most commanding tone. "She's an ally!" Ham glared around until he was certain all the guns would remain in their holsters then looked back at the creature standing behind him, her axe in one hand. She was glowering at Donovan in a way that suggested he was something she's rather be scraping off a hoof. Ham grinned at the thought, a grin that vanished when he looked back at Donovan.

"Chris is going out to find my mother and the others." Ham said quietly. "I'm sorry if you have a problem with that but frankly I really don't care." With that, he stalked off, breakfast forgotten in the need to get away from the other man.

There was a thump of hooves behind him and the big lady walked briefly next to him before turning off and going into what passed for a movie version of a stable. Curious, Ham followed her.

No one was using the stable due to the openness of it and the inability to lock it though Ham occasionally slept in the loft when the nights were warm enough. The big lady had apparently decided to make use of the building and had rigged up a makeshift desk out of some sawhorses and a plank. The Visitor computer was set up on it, the box of wafers next to it. The creature picked up a slender rod with a small ball on one end and used it to gingerly poke at the too-small keys.

"What's she doing?" Someone asked and Ham looked over his shoulder, not surprised to see Robert Maxwell there.

"I hope that's a rhetorical question." He said dryly and Maxwell shrugged. "I'm wondering how she's powering that thing." There was no generator or outlets in the stable.

"I hadn't thought of that."

Ham frowned then stepped closer to eye the machine. It didn't look like an Earth computer, not that he was any kind of an expert, but he had noticed that it did have what looked like a plug. So it had to have a power source. Stepping carefully around the makeshift desk, he saw that it was plugged into something roughly the size and shape of a lantern battery.

"She's got it plugged into something. Whatever it is, it's running the computer." He stepped back and watched her for a long moment before shrugging. He turned and walked toward the kitchens.

"What are we going to do about her?" Donovan asked curtly.

"I hope that's another rhetorical question because I have no idea."

"You brought her here!"

Ham stopped dead. "I did not _bring_ her here. She followed us back. Why, I have no idea. If you can think of a reason to drive her away, feel free to share it. If you can think of a _way_ to drive her away, share that as well because I can't! On the other hand, I can think of a whole lot of reasons not to piss off a ten-foot tall ivory-armored creature who probably weighs pretty close to a ton and who can teleport. Not to mention that really big and really sharp axe she carries." He paused, taking a deep breath. "She hasn't offered any threat and she has helped us. So for now just leave her alone."

"That's not your decision!" Donovan snapped and Ham's face tightened.

"No, it's not. So how about you go wake Parrish up and ask for her opinion?" He turned and walked away.

Donovan glared after him, almost tempted to go talk to Julie. Only the fact that Julie had been awake all night kept him from doing it. He'd talk to her when she woke up. Spinning on his heel, he barely managed to stop before running full tilt into the hard ivory armor of the creature. He looked up to see her glaring down at him, a look of utter disdain in her eyes. She snorted and tossed her head before looking after Ham. The next second she abruptly vanished.

Donovan staggered slightly as air rushed to fill the space she had vacated.

* * *

After some searching, Caleb finally found Tyler sitting behind the saloon, finishing up a plate of bacon and eggs. He glanced up as the older man approached, his look just short of unfriendly. 

"How's your father doing?" Caleb asked and Ham relaxed slightly.

"Unconscious. But still alive." He said, gathering up the empty glass and rising.

"How are you doing?" Caleb asked bluntly and Ham stiffened.

"Fine." He answered curtly, his body language warning the other man off.

"Donovan can be a jerk sometimes."

Tyler looked at him in surprise. He knew he wasn't well liked by anyone in this group and more than one person sided with Donovan because of that. There wasn't really anything he could do about that. Or, for that matter, really wanted to do about it. To hear someone say something negative about Donovan threw him off balance.

"Sometimes he just doesn't think about what he's saying before he actually says it." Caleb continued. "The fact that your big lady gives the impression she doesn't like him and would like to chase him up a tree doesn't help any."

Ham grinned fleetingly at that thought.

"Hey! Don't encourage her to do it."

"Spoilsport." Ham grumbled.

"Out there, you said she was an ally."

"Did I?" Ham shifted uncomfortably, looking away. "Maybe ally was too strong a word. But she did help us."

"Yeah, she did. But the question is, now what do we do with her."

Ham shrugged. "Talk to Maxwell. He'd be the best person to deal with her."

"I hate to point this out but you're the one she seems to like."

Ham scowled at that. "Not my job." He said curtly then paused, face suddenly thoughtful. "But maybe my father can help, once he's capable." He saw Caleb's confusion and grinned slightly. "He's an anthropologist. A linguist really."

Caleb's eyebrows crawled upward. "Could that be why the Visitors had him?"

Ham shrugged. He'd thought of that as well. "Maybe. But, for the most part, they haven't treated other scientists that way. No, they wanted something in particular from him. Unh?" Hearing his name called, he turned to see Maggie appear around the corner. She slid to a halt, almost tumbling to the ground.

"Tyler! It looks like your father is trying to wake up!"

Thrusting the dirty dishes into Caleb's waiting hands, Ham sprinted around the building and into the back room, dropping to a knee next to the bed. The older man was moaning with pain, moving restlessly as he tried to push himself away from unseen enemies. Ham looked at Alice.

"Parrish?"

"Father Andrew went over to get her." Then the woman stepped from the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Ham took a deep breath and dropped to his knees next to the bed, reaching to gently touch the older man's shoulder. Ben flinched back and Ham could almost feel the fear rolling off of him.

"Easy, old man." He said quietly, in a soft voice unlike his usual tones. "Easy. You're safe now."

Ben groaned, the sound catching in his throat. Feebly he tried to push himself away and Ham gently held him still.

"Come on, Pop. It's all right." On impulse, he switched to French. "**Open your eyes. It's me … it's Ham.**"

The latest groan broke into a sob, a sob interposed with fumbled words. Ham clenched his teeth at what his father was saying but forced his anger down. He could deal with that later.

"**No delusion, no dream. I'm really here. You're really safe. Come on, open your eyes. Look at me.**" He half-pleaded.

Ben's eyes finally blinked open as much as they could and Ham almost flinched at the fear and pain visible in them. The older man stared at then his eyes flicked around the room.

"**What are you doing here?**" He whimpered, the fear growing in his eyes. "**You can't be …**"

"**You're safe.**" Ham stressed, knowing that his father still thought he was a prisoner; that he'd been taken prisoner as well. "**This isn't the camp where you were, where the Visitors were holding you prisoner. You're with the LA Resistance. We found you.**"

"**Found? Found … how?**" Ben asked, obviously confused. Ham was relieved to see the fear starting to fade from his father's eyes.

"**Pure accident, old man. We were raiding the camp where they had you.**" He faltered then pushed ahead with an urgent question. "**The others? Are they safe?**"

Ben gulped air before letting loose a soft sob. "**Don't know.**" His hoarse voice was tinged with sharp-edged worry. "**Damn Visitors didn't … didn't even ask about them.**"

Ham paused in surprise then put it aside to think on later. "**Chris has gone to check on them. He'll find them. Pop?**" His voice sharpened with alarm.

Ben's eyes had closed and his breathing seemed more labored. "Vicki?"

"**Chris'll find them. He'll bring her here.**" Ham assured him.

"**Soon?**" There was a plea in the older man's voice.

"**As soon as possible. Pop?**" He knew the older man had to rest but a part of him didn't want to let him for fear he wouldn't wake up again.

"**Ring …**" Ben croaked. "**My ring. He took …**"

"**I have it. I have it here.**" Ham dug the ring from his pocket, pressing it firmly into his father's right hand. "**It's safe. Right here.**" His father's fingers closed tightly over the ring; it seemed to calm him down. At least he was breathing easier.

There was a soft knock at the door then it eased open far enough for Julie to slip through. Ben started when he realized she was there, the fear re-entering his eyes. He tried to shift away and Ham held him gently in place.

"**Easy, Pop. This is Julie Parrish. She heads the LA Resistance and is the closest thing to a doctor here.**" He saw a startled look cross Julie's face and realized that he was still speaking French. He quickly switched to English, knowing his father would automatically do the same. "You're safe here." He said firmly.

Ben licked dry lips, studying first his son then the woman in the doorway. "If you ask how I feel, I'll tell Ham to hit you." He said dully.

Julie raised her eyebrows. "Okay, that's fair." And Ben almost smiled. "Seriously, you have a lot of damage and I want you to rest as much as possible." She raised the syringe she held. "Morphine."

Ben started to nod then stopped, visibly wincing. "Normally I'd have choice words about that but I hurt too damn bad to object. Some water first?"

Julie hesitated, noting that his IVs needed to be replaced. "Just a little. Here."

Ham took the glass of water Julie offered him and helped his father drink from it. Even that little movement made the older man pale visibly and began to shake, sweat beading on his forehead. Julie moved quickly to Ben's side to inject the morphine into the IV.

Ham frowned, muttering a soft 'damn' before leaning close to his father. "Pop? What did the Visitors want?" He asked urgently. "What were they asking you about?"

Ben blinked, already sinking into a drugged sleep. He muttered something softly, so softly Julie couldn't hear it. Ham's frown deepened and he straightened, staring sightlessly at the wall.

"What? Ham?" Julie's voice sharpened. "What did he say?"

For a moment, she thought Tyler wasn't going to tell her then he shook his head sharply, as if to clear it.

"Ivory. They were asking him about ivory."

"Ivory?" Julie said in confusion. "Like elephant ivory?"

"I don't think so." Ham reached for the necklace Julie had seen but not really noted around Ben's neck. He turned it until at last he held the amulet that hung from it. "I think maybe they meant this ivory. Or maybe the ivory from the big lady. Or maybe both." He ran his thumb over it thoughtfully, for the first time feeling a faint tingling on his skin similar to the feeling he'd gotten when he'd touch the big lady's ivory armor.

Julie blinked then dropped to her knees next to Ham to stare at the amulet. It did look like it was carved from ivory. It looked like it was supposed to be an oval shape but only half of it was there. Curious, she peered at the well-worn carvings on the half that remained. She could dimly make out a humanoid figure and what looked like half of another.

"You think this came from your big lady?" She asked skeptically.

"I don't know. Maybe from one of her people? Is there a way to check where ivory came from?"

"I don't know. And even if there is, we'd need a lab and an expert to do it." She eyed the amulet thoughtfully.

After a moment, Ham shrugged and dropped the amulet. "We'll worry about that later." He stood up then stretched out a hand to help Julie up.

"Where did he get it?"

"Found it ages ago. He doesn't talk about it much. Apparently there was a hell of a row about its origins."

"Why?"

Ham shrugged again. "Like I said, he doesn't talk about it." Then he frowned, going over what Julie had said a few minutes ago and what Caleb had said earlier. "Wait a minute. Why does everyone call her my big lady?" He asked crossly.

Julie barely managed to smother laughter at the look on his face. "Does everyone? I didn't realize … well, she does seem to have adopted you." She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn and Ham realized she'd only been in bed for less then two hours.

"Go back to bed." He ordered. "I'll stay with my father for awhile. Can you have someone come over about noon?"

Julie blinked. "Oh, right. The planning session. Sure." She started for the door then stopped abruptly. "How's your finger?"

Ham looked at her blankly for a moment then glanced at the finger in question, rubbing his thumbnail hard against it. "Still numb." He admitted before turning to look at his father. "That could be a good thing."

"Cal's taking a look at the salve now." She said, referring to the young biochemist that had joined them not long ago. "When I get up later, we'll decide on rather or not we should use it."

"Good. Thanks. Oh, and Parrish? I know sometime you bring that lizard …"

"Willie." Julie supplied and Ham nodded.

"Over here sometimes. Could you not for awhile? If my father hears one of their voices, he might … he might freak."

"Good point. I'll pass it on." Julie slipped out the door, closing it firmly behind her.

* * *

Julie blinked at the small gathering of people waiting outside the door. Caleb, Alice, Maggie, Ruby, Mike … She could even see the big lady through one of the windows, standing just off the sidewalk. Apparently she hadn't realized yet there was a window in the room they had Ben in. 

"He woke up briefly. I gave him a shot to help him sleep." She glanced around the group. "Ham's going to stay with him for a while but I think he has a planning session at noon."

"Yeah." Caleb said. "The food processing plant."

"I thought so. Maggie, you're on that raid so Ruby, would you mind?"

"Sure. I'll come back over at noon." The older woman said readily.

"Good. I need to get some more sleep." Julie said frankly. "So everyone out. Back to what you should be doing." She led by example, walking from the building and heading for the trailer-dorms.

"Julie. Wait a minute." Julie paused, waiting for Donovan to catch up with her. He nodded at the alien creature standing nearby. "What are we going to do about her?"

Julie blinked, confused. "Nothing. I don't see what we can do about her." She saw the look on Donovan's face and suppressed a sigh. "Ham told me most of what happened while we were taking care of his father. The big lady had a lot to do with saving him. And that it was obvious that she was no friend to the Visitors. Hell, for all we know, she could be part of that Alliance Martin told you about."

Donovan frowned, glancing at the huge creature. With almost appalling casualness and using just one hand, she was lifting the end of a car. The men who had been in the process of trying to jack it up to change the tire had frozen into position.

"You might wanna work quick, guys! Before she gets bored and puts it down!" Elias' shout brought them out of their frozen state and they hurriedly went to work. She seemed quite content to hold the car up all day, if need be.

"But having an alien here …"

"You wouldn't have a problem if it was Martin." Julie pointed out. "Or another member of the Fifth Column. Of course, they look human and Ham's big lady doesn't." She found herself grinning at her wording. Despite his protests, she had a feeling Ham really didn't mind her being referred to as his big lady.

Donovan scowled. "It has nothing to do with how they look. It's just that … we don't know anything about her."

"Yet. And all we know about the Visitors is what they tell us." Julie shook her head. "Look. So far she's only helped us. I don't know why but we need all the help we can get. We can find out why once we figure out how to communicate with her. Which reminds me. Ruby!"

The older woman wasn't too far away and she came over immediately. "Yes?"

"When you go to relieve Tyler, could you tell him that we're going to meet after supper, say seven o'clock, in the saloon to talk about the big lady and about what happened?"

"Of course. Good idea." She looked over to where the big lady was still holding up the car. She was idly studying the ivory on the back of her free hand, looking like a matron studying her nails.

"But don't you wonder why she seems so attached to Tyler?" Donovan asked.

Julie shrugged. "He is the first person she really interacted with. That might have something to do with it. She doesn't really seem to mind anyone else."

That was true. The big lady was watching everyone, not the least bit antagonistic, just curious. She didn't approach anyone directly, except for Tyler when he was available.

"And I'd say it has more to do with his father than with Ham." Ruby spoke up. "Ben Tyler is, by all appearances, the reason she appeared. And please don't ask why." She said just as Donovan opened his mouth to do just that. "We might be able to find out why later. Now, Julie." She turned to the woman. "Go back to bed. You look ready to fall over and you'll want a clear head for the meeting. Mike." She turned back to him. "Don't worry about the big lady. There is nothing we can do about her. Between that armor and the ability to teleport, I suspect anything we have would, at best, amuse her and at worst, make her angry. And I personally don't want to see her angry."

Julie agreed. She had a suspicion those ivory-armored hands could do a great deal of damage, not to mention the axe. "Mike, how about you go around and let everyone know that, for now at least, the big lady is just a visi …" She choked on the word she was intending to say and hastily amended it. ."She's just a guest, a friendly guest and that everyone should just ignore her. Yes, I know it's hard to do but I don't want anyone doing anything stupid concerning her. She's been friendly so far and I'd preferred to keep her that way. Okay?"

"All right." He watched Julie vanished back into the trailer-dorm before turning away and heading for a cluster of residents, all of whom were warily watching the big lady.


	4. Interlude 2

She wondered what 'beeg lahdee' meant. It was obvious they were using it to refer to her but as long as the combined tones of awe and respect accompanied the words, she didn't mind. Still, she would like to know what it meant.

The male creature who'd first approached her … the one she found herself thinking of as _S'tolqui o'Komees_ … was no longer in sight and she reasoned that he was probably with his seriously injured sire. Scent alone had told her one had come from the other and his actions had quickly confirmed it. Unfortunately the majority of buildings were too flimsy for her to enter so she couldn't go see what was going on.

Seeing that the creatures were finished with the vehicle, she set it down gently and strolled away, thinking over what she had read on her trip back to her home world. The information had been sparse, simply outlining what the _Hissarsi_ had been doing. Once the ships had left the _Hissarsi_ home world, the information had dropped to the barest trickle. They did have spies on the ships themselves but once they were on their way, the spies had had no means to send back reports.

Pausing outside the building she was using, she glowered at the computer. Due to her size, it was difficult to use the machine but she managed to skim a number of the files that weren't solidly locked behind layers of security codes. She wondered briefly why anyone would bring such information within arm's reach of the beings they were trying to subjugate then decided that the _Hissarsi_ were seriously underestimating their opponents. But what she really had to do is somehow tell these creatures … these 'hu-mans' … what the _Hissarsi _planned. This meant she needed to be able to communicate with them. And she needed to get the information from the computer faster then she was capable of getting it.

She needed help.

With that thought, she vanished.

* * *

One of the first things they learned in fillyhood was never to teleport where they weren't expected. She did it anyway. 

Luckily the teleport dais was empty and she stepped quickly to where the indignant operator stood. Slipping her credstick from the holder carved in her armor, she slapped it into the reader and tapped out a payment triple the normal fee as well as the amount of the customary fine for unannounced teleporting. The operator scowled at her then shrugged. "**Just be sure to set up a time next time.**" S/he … the being was a _Shikito_ and she couldn't readily tell his/her/its sex … ordered sternly. "**Now go check your axe.**"

She stepped from the teleport room and into the weapons check area, offering her axe to the Simian behind the counter. He slapped a null-gravity unit on it and used it to lessen the weight to a manageable level before taking it and handing it off to an assistant. He handed her a claim disc.

"**Careful walking, cousin.**" He grunted and she snorted in amusement then stepped out into the wonderful world of the MallStation.

The MallStation, where you could literally find anything. The size of an asteroid, the station traveled throughout the Confederation, dispensing trade wherever it went. It the best place to find anything and everything you may need. She took a moment to rent a personal helper and used it to map a way to the Library.

Not that you could possibly miss the Library, It took up the several floors and contained, if not all the written material of the known universe, at least the vast majority of it, as well as the means to quickly acquire the remainder. She stepped inside and wandered the many rooms until she found the acquisition department. The being on duty was known to her from her days as a cadet and she slapped down her credstick, though not hard enough to break the desk. At least not this time.

"**I need some books.**"

"**Learned how to read then, have you?**" The Firebird said in a mellow voice, not bothering to look up. Her flame-hued feathers rustled as she turned the pages of the book she was reading.

"**If it has really small words, yes.**" She outlined what she needed and the Firebird blinked at her in surprise.

"**I can't give you that last one in English! Why would you want it in that language anyway?**"

"**The _Hissarsi_ are on Terra 3-9-717.**"

The Firebird closed the book she had been reading. "**Terra 3-9-717 is a closed world.**" She said carefully.

"**Tell that to them.**"

The Firebird opened her beak, closed it then opened it again before finally speaking. "**You're joking. No, ignore that. You don't joke. I still can't give you that last book in English. I can do it in Common Confederation.**"

"**That'll do. I'll need a second copy of that first book in a smaller size as well. When can I pick them up?**"

"**Beautiful Dreamer?**" The Firebird addressed the Library's _Ish'Kirien_ computer, who had naturally been listening in.

"**Two C-days.**" Was the prompt reply.

Two C-days. Almost three Earth days. She slipped her credstick into the reader and watched a large amount being transferred away. "**I forgot. Do you have an info card on Earth Humans?**"

"**Since there are no Earth Humans in the Confederation, no.**" The Firebird turned to snatch a card just emerging from the printer and slapped it on the counter. "**But here. They are the same species so what's correct for one is correct for the other. No charge.**"

She grunted her thanks and took up the card, still warm from the printer. About half the size of her hand, it had two human figures printed on it, a male and a female. Between them was the Confederation symbol for 'Human'. On the other side was printed the species' basic information in Common Confederation. She slipped it under her armor with her own species info card and made her way to the reference area to double-check something before having the personal helper map out a path to the next place she wanted to go.

By law, all shops had to either be big enough for any member of any species to walk through it or had to have an outside counter. The alchemy shop had an outside counter. Since it barely came to her thighs, she dropped to a knee and set the card down. "**I need medicines for this species.**"

She wasn't surprised to see that the being who appeared behind the counter was another Firebird. They tended toward the scholarly or healing occupations. He picked up the card and slipped into the appropriate slot. "**For what type of injuries?**"

She hesitated then outlined the injuries she remembered on the older male. "**And wounds caused by tech five-seven-a weapons.**" She added. That brought her an odd look but the Firebird didn't ask any more questions of her. He examined the information on the screen intently before nodding.

"**It will take me awhile to mix this entire order up.**" He said.

"**Two C-days?**" She slipped her credstick into the reader and he eyed her credit limit thoughtfully. It was impressive and should it ever falter, she carried another fortune quite literally on her back.

"**If I hire someone to help, I can have it then.**"

"**Do it please.**"

He transferred over the fee along with the amount needed to hire someone temporarily and handed her back her credstick.

"**Another question.**" She said quickly before he could remove the info card. "**Would numbing _kuta_ made for me work on that species?**"

The Firebird asked the question of his computer and studied the answer thoughtfully. "**It would be much stronger then needed but it wouldn't do the being any permanent damage. It would be better though if it were diluted. Here.**" The Firebird disappeared back into the shop then returned with a white jar. "**Dilute it with this. If you use a standard jar for your species, this should be enough. No charge.**" He added as she reached for her credstick. "**It's nothing more then a diluting agent and we happen to have an overstock at the moment anyway.**"

"**Thank you.**' She said sincerely. "**Do you know a good hiring shop?**"

"**The place I use.**" He gestured across the way and several shops down.

After another very sincere 'thank you', she made her last stop then headed back toward the teleport area. There seemed to be several beings leaving and she ended up in a heated discussion with a Minotaur before managing to finally drop off the personal helper and retrieve her axe. After setting a time to return two C-days from now, she vanished.


	5. Part 3

"What's the news?" Tyler's voice cut across Julie's thoughts and she looked up from Cal's report with a frown. The former government agent was standing in the doorway, eating what looked suspiciously like a brownie.

"Where the hell did you get a brownie?" She said crossly, not having seen chocolate of any sort for weeks.

Ham looked surprised. "Ruby made them up. I guess she figured it was a way to spread the chocolate around." He looked at her thoughtfully then grinned suddenly. "You didn't go over for supper, did you?"

"Supper?" She looked at her watch and groaned. It was almost ten to seven.

Ham chuckled. "Run over fast. I think there are some brownies left." He saw her waver and guessed at the reason. "No one's going to care if you eat during the meeting."

Julie dropped the report on the table and hurried from the building. When she returned a few minutes later, plate in one hand and a glass of milk in the other, it was to find Ham sitting at the table, intently reading the report she had left behind.

"Making any sense of that?' She asked, setting her plate and glass down. Ham glanced up then shoved the report toward her.

"Let's see if I'm reading this correctly." He said. "This salve contains an antiseptic as well as an anesthetizing agent and antibiotics."

"Right. Well, that's what we can recognize. There's a whole bunch of stuff we can't identify." She picked up her fork and poked it at the noodles. "There are just too many unknowns in that damn salve. How's your finger?"

"Still numb. Whatever it is, it's strong."

"Maybe too strong. If we put it on open wounds …" She shrugged. "It's all right for the big lady but she's a lot bigger than we are. She probably needs it stronger."

Ham grunted and nodded, running an eye over the report then shook his head. "I'd hate to use it blind but we don't have anything that will work well on those kinds of wounds." He closed the report and shoved it aside, abruptly changing the subject. "Chris made it out to the compound." He didn't bother explaining what or where the compound was. "Abandoned. No bodies and there doesn't look like there was any fighting." Ham frowned, obviously puzzled by this.

Julie looked confused. "So the Visitors never even went out to check it out?"

Ham shook his head. "From what little I got from Pop, they didn't even ask him about it. Which means …" He paused, frowning then continued slowly. "Pop had fake ID. They didn't know who he really was."

"So why did they have him?" Julie asked. "And how did they get him? Could he have been captured while scouting the place or something?"

Ham frowned. "No." He said firmly. "My father would be the last person they'd send out on a scouting mission." He fell silent for a moment then returned to the original subject. "Chris is going to try and track them down. May take a few days."

Julie nodded thoughtfully. "When's he checking in?"

"Six and six, unless he has something important to pass on." Ham glanced over as Donovan, Robert, Father Andrew, Sancho, and Caleb entered the building. "Did you see the big lady on your way over?" He asked.

Caleb shook his head. "No sign of her yet."

Ham nodded absently. "Is this everyone?" He asked Julie.

"For this meeting, yes." She didn't feel so bad about eating during the meeting after seeing that both Father Andrew and Robert had brought plates over as well. "We'll have an open meeting in a day or two."

Ham nodded, leaning back in his chair. "So, situation of the week. One big lady of unknown origins but apparently friendly and maybe a potential ally." He shot a look at Julie. "That sum it up?"

"Pretty much." Julie agreed. She pulled a legal pad closer and grabbed a pencil, thankful to see she'd done it with her right hand. Of course she was eating with her left … shoving that thought away, she looked at her notes. "First question, in chronological order, why is she here?"

"That has to have something to do with your father, Ham." Caleb said without hesitation.

"No argument there." Ham grunted. "But what?"

"Previous contact?" Donovan suggested.

"Don't be an ass, Gooder." Ham said without heat. "I think even Pop would have remembered meeting a kylin."

"A what?" Donovan said sharply and Ham looked at him in surprise before reviewing what he'd just said. He almost smiled.

"A Chinese dragon-horse. You gotta admit it fits her."

Julie looked thoughtful. "You're right, it does."

"Provided the other three Lings don't show up." Robert said between bites.

"There is that, yeah. And no, they have never met before. Why is she interested in my father? I have no idea. In fact, I'm not even sure she is interested in him."

"You think it's the necklace." Julie guessed.

Ham shrugged. "It's possible, I guess." Then, before anyone could ask, he continued. "My father wears an old ivory amulet he found decades ago. No, I don't know where he got it or exactly when but I suspect that it's made out of the same kind of ivory the big lady has growing on her. Maybe that's why she's here. Why now and not some time over the last three, maybe four decades? No idea. But it's the only link I can think of."

"It's a starting point. Now, the Visitors didn't like her?" Julie asked.

"Not one bit." Sancho spoke up. "Most of them took one look at her and took off to hide!" He grinned at the memory. "It was kinda funny."

"And then, when it became obvious she wasn't going to leave, they took off as fast as they could." Ham added.

"Then she helped you with your father?" Julie asked.

"Yeah. She got him off that damn cross then found water and towels to get him cleaned up with. And sheets to use as bandages." Ham described their interaction, cleaning up his father and tending his wounds as best they could, her following actions with the cross and her bringing out the mattress for the truck.

"She was obviously trying to help." Robert said.

"And she knew how to help." Father Andrew added.

"And when not to help." Ham pointed out. "She knew she'd end up hurting him worse if she actually tried to help clean him up or pop his shoulders back in." He went on to tell what happened next; getting his father into the truck and then finding the big lady in the offices and what happened there, leaving out finding his father's belongings in the desk drawer.

"Where's that stuff now?" Donovan asked.

"In the stable." Ham said. "I saw the box there." He didn't mention that where he saw it was stashed up in the rafters where undoubtedly only the big lady could reach it.

"We'll have to get it …" Donovan started.

"Why? We can't do anything with them, at least not yet. None of us know how to use that computer so the wafers won't do us any good."

"Big lady knows how to use it. Maybe she can teach one of us." Caleb suggested.

Ham shook his head. "That computer doesn't look anything like one of our computers. As soon as possible, I'll see if I can take a look at those papers and the envelopes but for now I think they should stay where they are."

"If we can get those papers to Martin, he could translate them." Donovan said.

"No." Ham's curt tone left no room for discussion. "The less the Visitors, any Visitor, knows about what we have, the better."

Stung, Donovan opened his mouth to give a hot retort only to be cut off by Julie.

"Ham's right. Right now, no one knows we have this stuff. Besides, if this is all top secret stuff than having Martin know about it could be dangerous, not only to us but also to him. So we deal with it." Her expression suggested she wasn't happy with that thought.

Ham threw her a surprising sly look. "Don't worry about it too much. We'll have a translator soon enough. Once my father's well enough." He didn't look at all surprised when Robert choked on his drink. In fact he grinned a little.

"Ben Tyler." Robert finally managed to say. "_Dr._ Ben Tyler. The linguist."

Ham nodded.

"What?" Julie asked, confused.

"My father is an anthropologist." Ham explained. "Specializing in anthropological linguistics. And just a plain old linguist as well."

"He's one of the leading linguists in the world." Robert said and Ham shrugged.

"When the ships first arrived, Pop was one of the people called to form a team to deal with alien contact. Only it turned out they weren't needed. The team was disbanded. Officially. Unofficially, the team was still working. At least until the members started disappearing."

"And your father?" Julie asked.

"Well, my mother is inherently paranoid … yes, Donovan. That's undoubtedly where I get it from." He said dryly before Donovan could even finish opening his mouth. The other man flushed at the laughter that went around the table. "My father may not be the stereotypical absent-minded professor but he can be remarkably single-minded. Mother had a plan in place. They went to ground maybe three hours before the cops came to arrest them."

"So you think he can translate this stuff?" Julie said excitedly.

"If anyone can, it'll be him. I think I can safely say he's the best man for the job." Ham said and Robert nodded confirmation.

Julie leaned back in her chair. "Good enough. It'll be weeks before he can do anything though so for right now, we need to figure out how to communicate with the big lady."

After a moment of silence, Robert looked up. "And all eyes come to me. I am _not_ a linguist."

"But you are an anthropologist." Julie responded.

"Different field." Robert said weakly, suspecting he had already lost this battle. Despite his negative experiences with the alien Visitors, he could feel that strong sense of curiosity that fueled his work kicking in. And the big lady was an entirely different species. "Oh, all right. I'll see what I can do. Provided she stands still long enough for me to do it." He added crossly.

"Once everything was said and done … at the camp … the big lady followed us back here." Ham finished.

"With one side trip." Caleb amended, outlining their brief stop.

"Interesting." Donovan said, eyeing Ham thoughtfully. "If she's here because of your dad, why is she taking such an interest in you?"

Ham shrugged. "Because he's my father. I think she knows that. Somehow."

"I guess that would depend on whether she's working on sight or scent." Robert gave Ham a sidelong look. After seeing Ham and his father, there could be no doubt that they were father and son.

"Sounds like we need a horse expert." Donovan said only half in jest.

"The big lady is not a horse." Ham said with such curtness that the others looked at him in surprise. "And my guess is she'd be insulted by the implication that she is."

"We'll find out more once we establish communication with the big lady." Julie said, smoothly interrupting whatever it was Donovan was about to say. She hesitated, not show how to phrase what she had to ask. "Ham, what about your father? I mean, could he have been …"

"Could he have been converted?" Ham shook his head firmly. "He couldn't have been in their hands more then four days, if that."

"How do you know that?" Donovan interrupted sharply. "How long they had him?"

Ham's face tightened in irritation. "Because I spoke to someone from the compound the day before we left for the raid on the camp and my father was still there."

"Are you sure they'd tell you …" Donovan persisted.

"Don't be stupid, Donovan." Ham cut him off coldly before turning to Julie. "If you want to know for certain, wait until Chris brings back my mother. She'll know if he's changed at all."

"By anything other than his experiences." Julie conceded, relieved that Ham wasn't hostile to the question. "Considering what he's been through, it would be surprising if he didn't act differently, if only a little. Even if he was converted, there's no way he could do anything for a few weeks, which will give us time to make absolutely certain. Now …"

She paused as the door swung open and Elias stuck his head in, looking apologetic. "Sorry, folks. Tyler, your big lady's back and I think she might want you."

"She is not _my_ big lady! If anything, she's my father's big lady! Which ought to thrill him to pieces when he wakes up." Ham shook his head in exasperation as he pushed himself to his feet and stalked out the door. Behind him, Julie hid a grin as she rose and followed him, the others behind her.

* * *

Tyler walked out onto the street to see the big lady crouched down, rubbing a finger delicately over a purring cat's back. Another cat had somehow managed to climb up onto her shoulder and was perched there with an expression that suggested she was queen of all she surveyed. This, once the creature stood up, would be considerable. 

But she didn't stand up. Instead she sat down, crossing her legs. Even sitting, she managed to tower over everyone in the camp. She made a gesture with both hands that puzzled Tyler. She made it again and Julie made a sound in her throat. "The jar." Turning, she ran over to the research trailer, returning with the jar in both hands. The creature took another, much smaller white jar from under her armor and made a series of gestures. It was Julie who figured it out.

"Mix what's in the little jar with what's in the big jar." She caught the look on Tyler's face and shrugged in embarrassment. "I've always been good with charades." She looked over at the young man who'd followed her out. "Cal?"

"Could be a diluting agent." He took the offered jar, looking thoughtful. "Which means that she probably went and asked someone if that …" He nodded at the jar Julie still held. "Was safe for humans."

"How?" Donovan asked sharply.

"How should I know?" Cal shot back, his short dark hair seeming to bristle. "She can teleport, right? So maybe she popped off to some multi-species hospital space station and asked someone."

"You've been reading James White again." Blade said crossly. "But he has a point. Just because the big lady doesn't wear clothes and uses an axe doesn't mean she's primitive. I mean, she obviously knows what a shuttle is, what a car is … or at least what a car _does_. She can use a computer. I think it's totally possible that she did go and ask someone if this medicine would work on a human. And someone told her it's too strong."

"Weirder things have happened." Julie agreed, watching as the big lady stood and strolled toward the stable, the cat still perched on her shoulder. "We'll test it, see what happens."

"We done meeting?" Ham asked.

Julie thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. For now. We'll meet again in a couple days, once we have some more observations about the big lady." She glanced at Robert. "I think we should meet to work out how we're going to communicate with her."

"Tomorrow will be soon enough. Ham, you wanna be in on that?"

"Not unless I need to be. Just send someone for me if you think I can help."

"Gotcha. See all of you in the morning." Robert disappeared into the trailer-dorms.

"You gonna check Pop out before curfew?" Ham asked and Julie nodded. "Good. I'll get my gear and be over in about twenty minutes."

Julie nodded again, running her hands through her hair before turning to walk into the infirmary and to the back room. She eased the door open, smiling at the sight of Ruby gently replacing a compress on the man's badly bruised cheek. Not broken, as Ham had feared. She took a moment to stand in the doorway, watching the old woman who had come to mean so much to her, so much to everyone, even to Tyler.

Ruby had barely managed to survive Julie's rescue. Only her quick wits and glib tongue had gotten her back out of the Embassy and the group had been unanimous about her not going back. Her cover had been effectively blown anyway so now she worked in the infirmary and helped in the kitchen, only occasionally going out as a bag lady to scout areas and get supplies.

"What's going on out there?" Ruby asked when she noticed Julie standing there.

Julie outlined the evening's events, finishing with, "Ham will be over soon. He'll stay here at night, at least until his mother arrives." She paused, shaking her head. "Well, at least I know now how it is he speaks Yiddish and French." She said dryly.

"Among other languages." Ruby smiled. "He said he had to learn them out of self-defense. Apparently his parents would use different languages in order to have private conversations."

Julie chuckled at that thought before turning her attention to Ben. Her amusement faded. They hadn't re-bandaged his back and the wounds there were ugly. Julie eyed the lash marks warily, wondering if they were becoming infected. They did look more red and swollen then before.

"I'm wondering if we should try that salve. Maybe just on the ones that look infected." Ruby said quietly, looking up at Julie. "He's starting to run a fever."

"Damn." Julie felt the man's forehead. He did feel warmer than before. "We'll check again in the morning and decide then. That'll give us a chance to check the medicine with the diluting agent. Has he woken up at all?"

Ruby started to shake her head then paused as the man in question moaned thickly, desperately calling out a name. Ruby hastily replaced the compress that had slipped off, murmuring soothing words and Ben calmed down, slipping into a deeper sleep.

"Vicki?" Julie asked, having barely caught the name he's spoken. "His wife? Ham's mother?"

Ruby's lips quirked and Julie remembered that she and Ham got along remarkably well. "Yes. Chris will bring her here, once he finds them."

Julie studied her thoughtfully, wondering about that secretive smile. "Will you stay until Ham comes?"

"Of course." Ruby eyed her for a long moment. "You should get some more sleep." She advised. "It's likely to be busy tomorrow."

Julie grimaced. Every day was busy these days.

* * *

Later that night, Maggie slipped into the infirmary, heading for the cabinet where medicines for public use were kept. She opened it and searched until she found a familiar pink bottle. As she reached for it, her stomach lurched uncomfortably, reminding her why she was here. At least she wasn't bedridden, like some of the current sufferers of this bout of flu were. 

She closed the cabinet then hesitated, seeing that the door to the back room was open. Curious, she wavered for a long moment before walking quietly over to look in. Before she reached the doorway, she heard Ham say sharply, "Oh, no you don't!"

Maggie froze then bit her lip to hide her grin. There was no way Ham could be talking to her! She eased forward to look into the room, just in time to see Ham flick his fingers at the big lady's muzzle. She had apparently just discovered the window into the little room and had stuck her muzzle inside. Now she jerked it back with a surprised snort and Ham started to push the window closed.

The big lady made a sound of protest and shoved her muzzle against the window, her big eyes sorrowful. As the window closed, she followed it down until she was looking up at Ham from the bottom of the window with her remarkably expressive eyes.

"That abused look would work a lot better if you didn't stand some ten feet tall and weigh maybe a ton." Ham said sternly, reaching for the curtains and yanking them closed. "Pop does not need to see you right now." He growled as he turned back to the man on the bed. "He'll think he's losing it."

Maggie, still looking at the curtain, was unable to control her giggles at the sight there. Ham jerked around, surprise on his face at seeing her and she wordlessly pointed at the window. Ham turned to see a reproachful equine eye peering in through an opening in the curtain.

Ham frowned before carefully adjusting the curtain so there was no opening of any kind. After a moment, they both heard a rattling sound as the big lady snorted against the window pane and then the sound of hooves stomping away.

Maggie managed to get herself under control. "Y'know, that's takes a lot of gall, doing something like that to something like _that_."

Ham threw her a surprised look then shrugged. "Maybe. But I don't think so. Whatcha doing?"

Maggie held up the bottle. "This damn flu. Do me a favor and let Julie know I'm just going to …" She cut off her words at a moan from the man on the bed then a sharp cry of fear. Ham motioned her to stay where she was and she obeyed, watching as Ham dropped next to his father's side.

"Easy, Pop." Ham said on a surprisingly soothing voice. "Easy. You're safe."

Ben jerked at Ham's touch, eyes darting around the room in fear.

"No Visitors, Pop. No enemies." Ham rested his hand lightly on his father's cheek. This time Ben didn't flinch, just stared at his son intently, as if he was trying to recognize him. "I've never lied to you, Pop. I swear. You are somewhere safe."

Maggie stood perfectly still, hoping she was out of Ben's line of sight. The sight of an unfamiliar face would only frighten him more. Even now, listening to his son's soothing words, he was starting to relax. After a moment he looked away from Ham's face, down at his bandaged hand. He blinked, alarm on his face.

"Ring. M'ring. I's gone …" There was stark panic in his voice.

"It's here, Pop." Ham cupped his father's right hand in his own hands. "In your other hand. See? Open your hand."

With obvious effort, Ben unclenched his fingers, looking with almost palpable relief at the silver and gold ring in his hand, held so tightly there were indentions in his skin.

"Your ring finger's badly sprained, too swollen to get the ring back on." Ham closed his father's fingers over the ring. "Just hang on to it. Mom'll be here as soon as Chris finds them."

"Soon?"

"As soon as possible. Go back to sleep. Come on, old man." Ham said with a half-smile, once it became obvious Ben was fighting sleep. "You know what mama will do; she gets here and finds out you aren't getting any better."

Ben blinked at him then grinned. "She'll smack _you_."

"Yeah. And you know how embarrassing it is to get smacked around by your mama at my age?"

Ben's smiled broadened and then, almost involuntarily, his eyes closed. Ham almost sagged with relief as his father slipped back into sleep. He stayed crouched next to him for a moment then stood, slipping out into the main room.

"Thanks." He murmured.

Maggie threw him a surprised look. "For what … oh." She glanced at the man sleeping on the bed. "Will he be all right?" She quietly asked.

"I hope so." He eyed her for a moment. "You better get to bed. You look pale."

Maggie smiled wanly, feeling another churning in her stomach. "This damn bug that's going around …" She glanced at the man in the bed. "Good night."

"Night."

* * *

Ham woke up to sunlight streaming into the window and he frowned until he remembered that he had opened the curtains and then the window in the middle of the night to let in some fresh air. Throwing open his sleeping bag, he stretched until he could hear his joints cracking then rose. He glanced toward the window, blinked then looked again, finally realizing that the oddness he was seeing was some of the big lady's ivory sticking up just enough to be seen. Which meant she was probably asleep under the window. 

Well, that would explain why the building was shaking and there was the sound of loud snoring coming from just outside the window.

For a moment, he debated dumping a pitcher of water on her but then remembered her size and reconsidered. Besides, having her out there guaranteed no one would try to sneak in through the window.

Still in his stocking feet … he'd only bothered to take off his boots and shirt to sleep … Ham moved over to his father's side, frowning at the sight of clear fluids oozing from some of the lash marks. Hesitantly he rested his hand on his father's forehead, swallowing an angry curse at the heat radiating there. He reached for his shirt, pulling it hastily over his head then tugged his boots on, not bothering to tie them before flinging the door open. Only Harmony was there and she jumped in surprise.

"Go get Parrish." He barked, worry making his tone harsher than needed. Harmony didn't protest, she just hurried out the door.

A snort turned his attention back to the window in time to see a remarkably sleepy-eyed big lady now sitting up. By some clever maneuvering, she had managed to get her head through the window and she was looking around, blinking. After a moment she spotted Ben and rumbled, leaning in almost far enough to reach him.

"Oh no. You'll scare him." Ham said sharply, reaching out to grab her horn firmly. The next second, he jerked it back with a hiss of surprise, staring at his bleeding hand. After a stunned moment, he looked up to see the big lady looking at him as if she was wondering how intelligent he really was.

"All right. I deserve that." He finally said. Reaching out more cautiously, he lightly touched the inside of the big lady's curved horn. It was razor sharp and Ham found himself thankful she hadn't jerked her head back. She would have taken the major part of his hand off.

"What is it?" Julie said sharply from the doorway behind him. "What happened?" He turned to see her staring at his hand, now dripping blood. He looked down at it and grimaced.

"I made the mistake of grabbing the big lady's horn. The inner edge of it is sharp."

"So I see. Here." Julie took a thick wad of absorbent cotton that Harmony offered her and pressed it against the wound then removed it up to examine the gash more intently. "Just split the skin and some muscle, it looks like." She looked sharply at the big lady's horn, seeing the blood on the inner side. "You're lucky she didn't take your hand off."

"Yeah, I realize that." Harmony reappeared next to them, wrapping Ham's hand in a thick towel she brought. "My fault." He said firmly, before Julie could get the wrong idea. "I didn't think her horn would be sharpened."

"Well, I'll need to stitch it up …"

"Later." Ham said curtly. He nodded toward the man on the bed. "He's burning up."

"Damn!" Julie moved to Ben's side, reaching out to touch his face. He was warmer then the night before. There was an inquiring rumble from behind her and the big lady stretched out her neck in their direction.

"No." Ham said firmly, stepping between her and the bed. "The state he's in, you'll scare him to death." He made a fist of his uninjured hand and pressed it against the big lady's muzzle, pushing her back. To Julie's surprise, the big lady didn't resisted, just gave him a remarkably abused look as she maneuvered back out the window then toppled over with a crash that echoed in the still morning air.

Ham looked out the window at the sprawled figure with something very close to amusement. "Big lady has a sense of humor." He said to Julie.

"Anyone else try that, she'd probably take their hand off." Julie pointed out and Ham shrugged, watching as the big lady climbed back to her feet and stomped off. Once she was away, he turned toward his father.

"Harmony, take Ham out and get his hand cleaned up." Julie said. "I'll be out to stitch it up once I've checked Ben over."

Ham hesitated then reluctantly followed the other woman out of the room.

"Not deep, just long." Harmony was saying as Julie stepped back out into the main room. She pressed a thick wad of gauze on the wound, looking up as Julie approached. Ham looked up as well, his face tight with worry and pain.

"Could you get some lidocaine ready, so I can stitch that up, Harmony?"

"Sure." Harmony disappeared into the storeroom and Julie took her place, lifting the gauze to look the wound over.

"It looks like the big lady keeps her horn clean. That's a plus."

"Parrish …"

"Several of the lash wounds have become infected and he does have a fever. The question is." She looked up at Ham. "Do we use the salve?"

Ham glanced out the window, where the big lady could be seen. She seemed to be drawing on the side of the barn, with what he couldn't tell.

"She didn't save him just to kill him another way." He finally said. "Try it."

Julie nodded. "I'll get the salve and put it on the worst of the infected injuries. After I get this local working."

"I'll get the salve." Harmony volunteered, handing her the syringe and heading for the door. Julie called a 'thank you' after her and administered the shot, noting with some amusement that Ham looked away though he didn't flinch. "You realize, of course, that this means you're off the roster?"

Ham jerked his head around. "Now wait a minute!"

"Your rules." She reminded him and he scowled darkly. He had insisted that anyone who was less than hundred percent not be included in raiding parties and it was his right hand that was injured. If had been his left, he would have argued about it.

"Fine." He said grudgingly. "But the food processing plant raid is in two days."

Julie set the syringe aside to be sterilized. "Who do you recommend to led it?"

Ham paused then sighed. "Caleb. He knows what he's doing."

Julie nodded in agreement, looking up as Harmony returned with what looked like a cold cream jar. She grinned at their expressions. "Well, it works." She pointed out. "Cal sent these over." She pulled a handful of sterile-wrapped dabbers.

"Good thinking. We don't all need numb fingers."

Ham scowled at her, though not as fiercely as before. He knew he'd been stupid, touching an unknown substance with his bare skin. Under normal circumstances … "Are you going to put it on now?"

"It's going to be twenty minutes before that takes full effort so yes. Keep pressure on that gauze. I'll be back in a few minutes." Julie reached for a pair of surgical gloves before taking the dabbers and jar from Harmony and retreating to the back room.

"I'll get the tray set up." Harmony turned away.

Julie moved to Ben's side, settling gently on the bed next to him. She wasn't surprised to see that Ham had followed her. "Wanna help?"

"No, you're doing fine." Ham grinned, watching as she carefully spread the salve thinly over the worst of the lash marks. He kept his injured hand up, keeping pressure on the gauze. He could feel it going thankfully numb, the pain finally fading.

"We'll keep an eye on him." Julie closed the jar tightly, setting it and the unused dabbers on a nearby table. "Hopefully his fever will break soon." She glanced back at Ham's hand. "How's it feeling?"

"Not numb enough yet." Ham grunted.

"So we give it a few more minutes."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Julie finished stitching up the gash. Not a bad job, if she did say so herself. Ham had watched her with no expression, looking away occasionally toward the back room, where Harmony was sitting with his father. The older man seemed to be resting comfortably now, without the twitches and moans that had haunted his sleep through the night. 

The door opened. "What happened?" Donovan asked, eying the stitches in Ham's hand. Julie was just taping a light covering of protective gauze over it.

"Grabbed the big lady's horn." Ham said, turning his hand so Julie could wrap it more securely with an ACE bandage. "It's sharp on the inner surface."

"Why?"

"Why'd I grab her horn or why is it sharp?" Ham looked amused for some reason. "I didn't want her disturbing Pop."

Donovan watched as Julie secured the wrap. "Speaking of the big lady, she's doing something … weird."

"Weird?" Ham slipped down from the table, moving to look out the window. "Looks like she's drawing."

"It's what she's drawing that's a little strange."

"What do you expect?" Ham reached for his windbreaker and slipped it on, speaking dryly. ""Flowers and puppy dogs? She's alien. She draws alien things. What's she using anyway?"

Donovan gave him a nasty look. "Sidewalk chalk. I don't know where she found it."

"Kids probably left it out." There was a glint of amusement in Ham's dark eyes. He looked into the back room. Satisfied his father was still fast asleep, he turned toward the exit. "How about we go see what she's doing?"

Some people were watching her from a safe distance and Ham walked past them, moving so he could look around the big lady's large body. His first thought was that she was no artist. He had no time for a second thought before Julie's surprised gasp registered and the chalk marks suddenly made sense. He stepped closer, almost into the big lady's shadow, to examine the drawing more closely.

Julie was right next to him. After a moment, she murmured. "Ham, that's …"

"Yes, it is." He said quietly, shifting to look up at the big lady. She was still drawing, rather laboriously with the too-small pieces of chalk and concentrating so hard she didn't seem to notice them.

"You know what that is?" Donovan demanded and Ham threw him a glare.

"No, I don't know what it is." He said curtly.

"But we have seen it before." Julie added, shifting to see the other side of the drawing better.

"Where?"

Julie glanced at Ham, whose lips were compressed thinly. "Ben's amulet. The ivory amulet he wears." She turned back to the drawing.

The big lady was only doing the outlines; even so they were recognizable. There was the first figure, humanoid in shape with an odd blocky head, then the second figure, more human in shape. But this drawing, unlike the amulet, had a third figure and that figure was no where near human. It appeared to have four arms and four legs and a head similar to that of an insect's. The sight of it made Julie shiver.

"Ham …" She started but when she turned to where he had been, he was gone, heading back toward the infirmary. Hastily she followed him, aware of Donovan right behind her.

Ham walked directly to his father's side, ignoring a startled Harmony. Julie motioned her to leave, watching as Ham dropped to a knee next to his father. He reached out to gently work the amulet around until they could see it and Julie leaned over his shoulder. As worn as the amulet was, all they could really see were the outlines of the figures. And, as near as she could tell, those outlines were pretty close to the same as the ones the big lady was currently sketching. She heard Donovan, who had followed them in and was leaning over Ham's other shoulder, swear under his breath.

"Ham?" She asked slowly. "Where is the rest of the amulet?"

Ham stared at the amulet in his hand and for a moment she thought he wasn't going to answer.

"I think that my mother has it." He said finally. "I don't know. Not for certain. But I think she has it. No!" He said curtly, closing his hand over the piece of ivory before Donovan can touch it.

"We need to have that examined." Donovan protested and Ham gave him a scornful look.

"And how do you propose to do that, Gooder? With what and by whom? You got an expert stuck in your back pocket or something? No. It's my father's amulet and it stays where it is. Take pictures of it if you like. Or send someone over to sketch it. But the amulet stays where it is." Ham said fiercely.

"Get your camera, Mike." Julie cut in quickly. "We can take some close-up pictures of the amulet and work from them." Donovan threw her a sharp look. Before he could say a thing, she continued. "Dr. Tyler's already been traumatized enough. We don't need him waking up to find what's obviously a prized possession gone. Once he's well enough to handle it then we'll see about getting it for examination.

Donovan hesitated. "Fine." He finally said. "I'll get my camera." He walked from the room.

Ham released the amulet, letting it fall onto the pillow and reached for his duffel nearby, pulling out a black t-shirt. Catching Julie's look, he grinned humorlessly. "He'll need something dark to offset the ivory."

"Ham, about that necklace … I noticed something …"

"Oh?" Ham's tone was uninviting.

"That necklace doesn't have a clasp. Or an opening anywhere. It doesn't come off, does it?"

"I don't know." Ham sank into the chair next to his father. "I've never seen him without it. Ever. And I've looked as well. I don't think it _can _come off." He paused and Julie could see the strains of worry on his face then they were gone, hidden under the layers of indifference Ham surrounded himself with. "The chain is made out of the same material the amulet is, did you notice? Ivory."

No, she hadn't noticed but she wasn't surprised.

"My father must know how to take it off. My mother as well. But you're right. It wouldn't be a good idea to remove it without him understanding we're doing it. And why." He glanced out the window then did a double-take before shaking his head. "Think I should go out and explain to her she can't hide behind a sapling?"

"I doubt she could hide behind a redwood." Julie stepped over to look out the window, grinning at the sight of the big lady positioned behind a sapling. Granted, it was a tall sapling but it also very slender. Maybe, she thought, she was pretending to be a tree.

"What's up?" Donovan asked, standing in the doorway.

Julie shook her head. "The big lady's being silly." She took the black t-shirt from Ham, giving him a keen look. "Stay there. I think the pain killer's kicking in."

Despite the sharpness of the look Ham gave her, she could see the slightly disoriented look pain killers sometimes induced. He didn't seem prepared to argue with her though. Instead he pushed the chair back out of the way, watching as they set up to take close-ups of both sides of the amulet. One or twice, he tensed as his father moved restlessly, disturbed by the activity but Ben didn't wake up, just shifted deeper into sleep.

Once done, Julie draped the shirt over Ham's duffle and straightened, laughing suddenly at the sight outside the window. "I think she wants her picture taken!"

Curious Ham leaned forward and looked out the window. The big lady, he saw, was positioned perfectly so that her head was framed by the window sill. Her eyes were opened wide, her ears pricked forward. She was, he realized, posing and he arched an eyebrow.

"You think she knows what this is?" Donovan asked, looking at his camera.

"I think that lady is smarter than any of us." Ham said. "I think she may be smarter than any of _them_." He gestured in the general direction of the LA Mothership. Feeling woozier than he cared to admit, he leaned back carefully, shifting so he could see out the window but not be in the picture. "Take her picture. Let's see what she does."

Donovan shrugged and raised the camera. Just as he snapped the shutter, with perfect timing and an obvious air of mischief, the big lady flipped her tongue out in a very loud … and very wet … raspberry. Julie jumped and then burst out laughing as Donovan jumped back, cursing. He glowered at her and turned to stomp from the room. Julie tried to stifle her giggles, only partially succeeding. She quickly checked to make sure Ben was undisturbed then looked up to see the big lady looking at Ham with an air of great satisfaction. It took a moment for Julie to realize that Ham was laughing as hard she had been.

She shifted her gaze back to the big lady, studying her thoughtfully. "Ham, are you going to stay here?"

"Hmmmm?" Ham's laughter faded and he looked at her with eyes that were a little unfocused. When he finally spoke, he did so carefully. "I'd better. What was in that shit you gave me?" He looked at her as sharply as he could manage.

Julie bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Nothing you can't handle. But I did just put several stitches in your hand. And you haven't been sleeping much the last couple days. For that matter, when was the last time you ate?"

"Last night."

"Sure about that?"

Ham opened his mouth then paused, realizing he wasn't sure. Julie shook her head.

"I'll ask Harmony to bring you over some breakfast and I'll tell Caleb he's leading the raid. If he has any questions, he can come ask you."

Ham scowled darkly at her but nodded. As much he hated to admit it, he did need the rest. Lack of sleep and food could lead to disastrous mistakes. So could distractions and worry. He'd already done a couple of stupid things that had hurt only him. The last thing he needed was to do something seriously stupid that could hurt someone else. He moved the chair closer to his father and settled back into it.

* * *

Julie closed the door behind her as she stepped into the main room of the infirmary. Donovan was at one of the tables, scowling as he wiped off his camera. He gave her an angry look and Julie stifled a giggle. 

"Harmony." She said to the woman writing out reports. "Would you mind going over to the kitchen and getting some eggs and bacon for Ham? I don't think he ate last night."

"Wait a minute." Donovan watched Harmony walk from the building. "Why can't Tyler get his own food?"

"Because he's groggy from the drugs." Julie responded tartly. "And I'd prefer that he stay with his father. It frees up the others do their duties. And since he's off the roster due to his injury, he can take care of Ben for awhile."

Donovan looked surprised. "Oh, right. Hadn't thought of that." He looked at his camera and grimaced. "She made a mess of this." He grumbled.

"But she accomplished what she wanted to do." Julie smiled at his surprised look. "She made Ham laugh."

"Why …"

"I don't know why she wanted to make him laugh but it's obvious that's what she was trying to do. When can we get the pictures?"

"I'll drop them off to be developed." He caught the look on her face. "I have to go meet with Martin. I'll tell them to bring over the photos once they're developed."

"Right. I forgot about that. When should you be back?"

"Not too long. Just a few hours. And I better go. I can finish cleaning this up later." Donavon walked from the infirmary, holding the camera gingerly by the strap.


	6. Part 4

It was mid-afternoon by the time Donovan returned to the LA Resistance's base. It hadn't been a very good meeting. Nothing had gone right and Martin had seemed oddly evasive. Granted, the news he had to pass on was important but the Visitor's almost searching looks and careful answers seemed out of character. Once or twice, Martin had started to say something then cut himself off. When Donovan had finally asked what was wrong, Martin had given him an even odder look and shook his head firmly; assuring him that everything was fine.

More than once, Donovan had been tempted to ask about the big lady, about her people and her possible reasons for being on Earth. Only Julie's stern order not to, coupled with Martin's oddly evasive behavior and the certain fact that Ham would beat him bloody, stopped him. It was a series of events that left him unsettled and wanting … needing to do something … anything!

Donovan looked around broodingly then he remembered the box that Tyler had brought back. Maybe he could get that cataloged. Anything to keep him occupied long enough to settle down. He walked into the stable and looked around, frowning. The big lady was nowhere in sight; apparently she'd started hanging around the back of the infirmary, where there was a window looking into the room where Ham's father was.

Only the box was nowhere to be seen.

The Visitor computer was there, set up on the make-shift desk. It was apparently turned off and he went over to examine it. He didn't know much about computers but this one looked nothing like any he'd seen. The characters on the keys were in the Visitor language and there seemed to be more keys than an Earth computer. Not just keys but switches and buttons and connections for various peripherals. Donovan hesitated then reached for what looked like the 'on' switch.

"You know, if you screw up that computer, maybe erase everything on it, a lot of people are going to be pissed at you." Robert's voice came from behind him. "Not the least of which would be the big lady."

Donovan let his hand dropped and turned to look at the other man, refusing to admit he was embarrassed at being discovered. "So we just wait for her to tell us what's on it?"

"Or we find our own expert. Do you know one? One that's not in Visitor hands, that is."

"No." Donovan admitted. He frowned at the computer, wanting to do something with it but acknowledging Robert was right. If he broke it, people would be pissed. Including real big people capable of breaking him in half without even trying. He stepped back and looked around again.

"Where's that box of stuff they brought back from the raid?" He finally asked.

Robert didn't say a word, just pointed up. Donovan followed the gesture, mouth dropping open at the sight of the box securely wedged up in the rafters, a good ten feet or more above the ground.

"How the hell did it get up there?" He flushed at the look Robert gave him, embarrassed. "Right. How do we get it down?"

"We don't. The only one who can reach it is the big lady."

Donovan looked up again, seeing that the box was well away from the loft and any windows. He had to concede that they couldn't reach it, not without a very long ladder.

"Why did she do that?"

"Maybe she's afraid something will get broken or lost before she can look at it?" Robert suggested. "And don't bother looking for a long ladder. I thought about that. Not only do we not have one long enough but the big lady might be unhappy if we try. I think the only thing we can do is wait until she's ready to bring it down. Or …" Robert paused.

"Or what?"

"Have Tyler ask her to bring it down." Robert straightened the papers and put them back under their brick. "Of course a bigger problem may be convincing Tyler to ask her to bring it down."

Donovan scowled. "We'll see about that." He turned and left the stable ignoring Robert's call after him.

Julie looked up as he entered the infirmary, alerted by the scowl on the man's face. "Mike, what …"

Donovan ignored her, walking purposely over to the door into the back room. It was open slightly, just enough to look in and he moved to push it open, only to freeze at what he could see through the opening.

Tyler was sitting on the edge of the bed, the jar of salve balanced in his injured hand. Using a dabber, he was applying the salve gently to his father's injuries. His face was intent, without the hard mask he always wore. He was so focused on his father that he didn't even realize Donovan was there.

But the big lady did. Donovan could see her outside the window, glaring at him. She was in the position she'd been in the night before, when she had conned him into taking her picture but she wasn't bothering to look friendly now. Her ears were totally flat and her eyes seemed to glow red. Her teeth were bared almost savagely and Donovan reflected that he'd never realized how impossibly sharp they were.

A hand grabbed his arm and yanked him back, away from the door. Julie reached past him to quietly close the door then she was yanking him to the other side of the room. Once there, she turned on him, her face furious.

"Don't you ever burst into a patient's room like that!" She snapped. "For any reason!"

Donovan was too rattled to listen to her. "Did you see her teeth …" He started.

"Yes! And you're lucky Ham didn't see you or that Ben didn't wake up! She'd be sharpening them on you!"

Donovan finally focused on the angry woman. "You don't seem too concerned about that."

"Considering that you were getting ready to seriously disturb a patient, I'm not! She makes a hell of a good watchdog. Horse. Big … armored … thing!" Julie paused, taking a deep breath and a moment to drag her hands over her hair. "Dr. Tyler was horribly traumatized by what happened. Having you storm in and starting a fight with his son could strip away any sense of security he may have. Now what the hell is wrong?"

It took a moment for Donovan to get his mind back on business. All those teeth … "Ahhh, that box of stuff they brought back from the camp. I want Tyler to get the big lady to bring it down from the stable's rafters."

Julie didn't look surprised at the box's location. "Why?"

Donovan blinked in confusion. "Because we need to see what's in it."

"I can tell you what's in. Lot of papers written in Visitorise, a number of those wafers they use for computer discs. Odds and ends. We're going to give it all a better look in a day or two."

"But for now, we need to get that stuff locked up."

"You really think anyone's going to try and get it from where it is?" Julie seemed amused then she eyed him intently. "What's the real reason, Mike?"

Donovan wavered then spoke in a low voice. "Look, I just don't think we should leave that stuff in Tyler's hands. We can't really trust him with it. Or trust how he'll use it."

"It's not in his hands. It's in the big lady's hands. And I, for one, am not willing to argue possession with her."

"But …"

"Mike, rather you like it or not, you and Ham are now on the same side. You have to stop treating him like the enemy because, whether you like it or not, we need him. He is the only person here who knows how to fight this kind of fight."

As much as Donovan hated to admit it, he knew she was right. That didn't help his mood at all.

"And none of us can do a thing about the big lady. We don't want to get her mad; we don't want to drive her away." She held up a hand to forestall any protest. "She could be a part of this Alliance Martin told us about. It's possible she could be here, at least in part, in response to that message we sent out. We don't know and we can't afford to alienate her, at least until we find out."

"So why not let me ask Martin about her?" Donovan asked resentfully.

"Because that's what Ham recommends." Julie said bluntly. "And, in this case, I agree with him. Until we find out why the big lady is here, we don't tell Martin about her." She saw the look on his face and grimaced. "I know! It's not like we'll be able to keep her a secret for too long but for now …" She paused. "As a matter of fact, Ham was wondering why Martin never once told you what the Alliance looked like. He hasn't, has he?"

"Huh?" Donovan looked surprised then thoughtful. "Well, no, he hasn't. But then I haven't asked. Maybe I could do that next time."

"Now that's a good idea." Julie said in obvious relief. "Ask him how we'll know them, what they look like. He really hasn't said anything other than that they exist." She frowned thoughtfully then shook her head, as if to clear it. "So what did Martin have to say?"

"Uh? Oh." Donovan thought back on his meeting with Martin. "Some disappointing news. He was trying to set up a chance for us to get a large supply of power cells for the weapons only another group hit the supply station first and cleaned it out." He decided not to mention Martin's odd behavior. It probably meant nothing.

Julie looked at him in astonishment. "When did you start discussing this with him?"

"The last time we met he brought it up. We were hoping to get it all worked out and then I'd get a raiding party together." Too late, Donovan saw the angry look on Julie's face.

"And you didn't mention it to me? You seem to keep forgetting, Mike, that this is a team, a unit. We're supposed to be working together. You can't keep taking off and working solo."

"I wasn't planning on it. We just wanted to get everything set up …"

"And you didn't think to talk to our resident expert about it, hmmm? I'm almost willing to bet that Ham knew about that supply station and he probably knows who raided it."

"And he didn't share that with us." Donovan quickly pointed out.

"Because he didn't need to. It had nothing to do with us and since you never mentioned what you were working out with Martin, he'd have seen no reason to mention it."

Donovan flushed. "Okay, okay, I get your point."

"I hope so." Julie paused, rocking back on her heels, looking thoughtful. She shook it off. "I have to get back to work and I think you're working in the school today …"

"I meant to talk to you about that …"

"Everyone takes a turn doing chores, Mike." She interrupted. "You're the one who choose working in the school rather than in the kitchen." She paused then continued dryly. "Even Tyler does chores, Mike. Without, I might add, any complaint."

Donovan couldn't argue with that. When Julie had blandly asked Ham where he wanted to do his quota of chores, he had looked over the list and responded without hesitation.

"In fact, if you'd prefer, you can take Ham's shift in the kitchen. He's taking care of his father, which is a lot more important and frees up others from having to do it."

Donovan grimaced. "No, I'll stick with the school."

"Fine. You better get over there." Julie gave him a rare brilliant smile and turned back to her work.

* * *

Ham closed the jar tightly and set it the table, tossing the used dabbers into the trash. He looked at the window, where the big lady had her head resting on the window sill. They stared at each other for a long moment then the big lady eased back until only her chin rested on the sill. Despite himself, Ham smiled and reached out with his uninjured hand to rub her nose and up under the armor covering her muzzle. 

She seemed to like that.

As much as he hated to admit it, a day of rest had done him a great deal of good. He felt refreshed, his mind clearer. He had been running on sheer adrenaline and stubbornness these last few days. He fingered the painkillers Julie had left him then decided against taking them. At least not yet.

He turned back to his father, examining the lash marks that had been red with infection. They were still red but no longer oozing. Julie had been pleasantly surprised at how well they looked now, as compared to this morning. She'd been even more pleased to find that Ben's fever was going down. They had put salve on the rest of the lash marks then covered his back with a clean sheet, hoping that would help keep them clean.

Ham checked the tubing, making sure everything was functioning correctly then checked to make sure the sheepskin padding Ruby had found to help prevent bedsores was positioned to give the most comfort. Elias had promised to see if he could get a hold of some more sheepskin padding so that they could rotate them, giving them a chance to air out the ones being used. And it did need airing, which was one reason he was keeping the window open. In an attempt to keep fluid from building in the older man's lungs, Julie was giving him a diuretic and while the catheter was working, accidents did happen.

There was a soft knock at the door and Ham hastily adjusted the sheets, making sure his father was decently covered before calling out a curt 'come!'. He was surprised to Robert Maxwell open the door.

"I thought you were trying to talk to the big lady." The minute he said that, Ham felt stupid. The big lady had been outside the window all this time.

Robert gave him a dark look he knew he deserved. "She won't stand still long enough for me to try to talk to her. Mostly she's out there." He nodded out the window.

Ham glanced out as well, seeing that the big lady was currently examining the gutters above her. "And your thought about that would be …"

"Using you for bait." Robert said bluntly.

Ham looked at him in surprise.

"She goes where you are. If you come outside, eventually she'll come around to find you."

Ham frowned, knowing very well that that was true but he wasn't fond of the idea of being used for bait. At least Maxwell was being honest about it.

"Ahhh, Tyler?" Ham focused back on the anthologist, who nodded toward the window. He turned to see that the big lady was at the window, in the process of maneuvering her head inside. She paused when she saw he'd seen her, looking remarkably like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. After a moment of mutual staring at each other, she slowly reversed her direction, easing back out of the window then resting her chin on the sill, watching plaintively as Ham pushed the window down, not quite closing it.

Ham stood there for a moment, hands still resting on the window then sighed, conceding that the only way to keep the big lady from disturbing his father was for him to leave the room, at least for awhile.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to sit out on the porch, get some fresh air. How about you go see if Ruby can sit with my father for awhile? If she's available."

"Great." Robert said in relief, stepping back out of the room.

When Ruby entered the room, it was to see Ham leaning over his father, making the man more comfortable. He glanced up at her.

"No sign of bedsores and he's sleeping comfortably but keep an eye on the big lady. She keeps trying to … I don't know. Get closer to him, I guess." He looked at the window. The big lady was still there, resting her muzzle on the sill and looking at him soulfully. "I'll be back in maybe a couple hours."

"Take your time. Relax." Ham gave her a look and she shook her head. "It might be hard but do it anyway. Go on now, shoo!" She ushered him out the door and closely it firmly, waiting a few minutes before walking over to the window and opening it fully. "You." She spoke directly to the big lady. "Are a big fraud. And a lot smarter than some folks think you are. Now go on. They're going to be waiting for you."

The big lady straightened, her soulful look gone. She almost looked like she was grinning.

Ham stepped out of the building, pausing to look around. It was mid afternoon and people were moving about the camp, doing chores, standing sentry duty, or just enjoying the day.

"Whose game?" He asked Robert, nodding his head toward the chess board set up on a table nearby. The table was in the corner of the infirmary's porch, a couple of wooden chairs on each side.

"Artz and I were playing a game earlier. Wanna finish it?"

Ham hesitated then shrugged. "Sure, why not? Been awhile since I've played a game."

He settled into the chair opposite Robert, eyeing the board thoughtfully. It didn't take long for both men to be absorbed in the game, so absorbed that they only realized that the big lady was there was when her head suddenly appeared next to them. She was glowering, her expression an obvious 'Remember Me?". She snorted, a snort that made the pieces on the board shake ominously, and eased within lip reach of the board.

"Don't even think it." Ham advised, intent on the board and the big lady rolled her eyes at him. After a moment, she eased back again, mumbling to herself.

"So what do you think, Maxwell? Think she can learn English?" Ham asked, moving a chess piece.

Robert frowned, torn between studying the board and studying the big lady, who was now idly examining the railing. "Understand it, yes. She already seems to be picking up a lot. Speak it? Mr. Ed not withstanding, horses … or horse-like creatures … are not built to speak English." He turned to study her intently for a long moment then shook his head. "She won't be able to handle some sounds. But I think she could speak it well enough for us to understand her."

"Would it be easier to learn her language?" Maggie asked and both men looked up, startled at her approach. She set a tray with a pitcher of tea and glasses next to the board, pausing at their surprised looks. "What? Do you want some tea or not?"

Ham broke free of his surprise. "Yes, thank you. You look like you're feeling better." He added, noting that Maggie's color was better then it had been the night before.

Maggie grimaced. "My stomach is still yucky but I'll survive." She offered a glass to each of the men and took one for herself, leaning against a nearby pillar. The big lady, obviously curious, stretched out her neck to sniff at the tea. "We don't have a big enough glass. Or should I just give her the pitcher?"

"That would work." Ham grunted then paused as the big lady reached under her armor, pulling out what looked like a drinking horn. "You're kidding. You're not kidding." He said as the big lady twisted the top off and held it out. After a moment of surprise, Ham picked up the pitcher and poured the contents into the drinking horn. It almost emptied the pitcher.

They watched as the big lady checked out the contents of the horn, eyeing it carefully and sniffing it delicately before finally taking a sip. Apparently deciding it was safe and that it tasted good, she took a bigger swallow.

"As to why it would be easier for her to learn our language rather than we learn hers." Robert returned to her original question. "She's hearing our language all the time. From the look of it, she's already picking it up."

"So the more she hears it, the more she'll learn?"

"I hope so. I can't get her to stand still long enough to communicate with her any other way." Robert said crossly, with an accompanying glower for Ham. He paused suddenly, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "How long does it take you to learn a new language?" He asked suddenly.

Ham looked up, startled. For a moment, Robert didn't think he was going to answer then Ham shot a look at Maggie and shrugged.

"Average, maybe three weeks." He grinned at the astonished look on Maggie's face. "The longest took six weeks but then we were learning two dialects at the same time. The least amount of time was nine days."

Robert whistled in surprise. "That's impressive."

"Not really. It was more like self-defense. If we got a word wrong three times, we got clobbered. Not hard." He said hastily, seeing the looks on their faces. "And not often. And if we got it right, we got treats." He grinned. "We got a lot more treats than thumps."

"And you learned by … " Robert asked.

"By living with the people who spoke it. By hearing nothing but that language. The way she's learning our language." He nodded at the big lady.

"So it would best if we talk." Maggie sipped her tea and eyed the chess board. "So explain this game to me. What? I've never played it before."

After a moment, Ham leaned back in the chair, resting the glass on his knee. "All right."

To his surprise, Ham found himself enjoying the evening. Maggie asked intelligent questions about the game and he answered them, sometimes interrupting a game to demonstrate something. Robert didn't mind, he was watching the big lady, who appeared to be listening intently. After a while, they settled into a serious game.

Maggie slipped away to get a couple more pitchers of tea and some sandwiches. She almost hated to admit it but she was having more fun then she'd had in quite some time. She handed around the sandwiches, thankful that the big lady showed no interest in the food, though she did take more tea.

"How do you think she's eating?" Maggie asked suddenly and both men looked at her in surprise. "Well, she's got to be eating something." She said defensively. "At her size, I'd say a lot of something."

Ham moved a chess piece. "She must go back to wherever she came from to eat. Which is good. We couldn't afford to feed her."

Robert grunted, eyeing the board with a frown. He was pretty good at this game … endless sessions with his mentor out in the field helped hone his skill … but Ham was better. A lot better.

"Ooook." All three of them looked up at the big lady, startled. She tossed her head. "Ooook. Ooove ooook."

"She wants you to move the rook." Maggie said suddenly.

Robert blinked, looking back down at the board, finally moving the one remaining rook. Ham frowned, throwing a glower at the big lady.

"You! No helping!" He snapped and the big lady stuck her tongue out at him, not impressed in the least. Ham went back to studying the board. While the move was a good one, it only delayed the inevitable. He shifted a piece.

"Iiing." The big lady said without hesitation and Robert looked the board over, finally shifting the king. He gave the big lady a look before releasing the piece.

Ham arched an eyebrow, realizing that the big lady had all the moves already planned. She had to know that Robert was going to lose; the trap was already set too well. In seven moves, he had won but every move the big lady had suggested was a good one.

"What are you doing?" Donovan asked suddenly and they all looked up, so caught up in the game they never realized they had acquired an audience. Even the big lady looked startled.

Ham looked from Donovan to the small cluster of people behind them before turning back to Donovan. "Teaching the big lady how to play chess. She's a quick learner too."

The big lady made a decidedly rude noise in Donovan's direction then looked expectedly at Ham.

"Wanna try another game?" Ham asked.

"Aaammme." The big lady rumbled.

"Game?"

This time she nodded, almost taking off part of the roof with her horn. She stopped in mid-nod, flattened her ears, and glared at the offending structure.

"Careful, big lady. We need these buildings." Ham helped Robert reset the board.

The big lady snorted, snapped at the gutter without actually biting it then turned her attention back to him, ears arching forward.

"Let's see if she'll call the first move." Ham gestured toward the board.

She did. It wasn't easy to understand what she was saying but they managed with a combination of butchered words and gestures. Seven moves later, Ham was studying the board with a frown, wondering …

"Don't tell me she's beating you." Donovan said almost snidely and Ham waved him abruptly to silence, too involved in the game to care about his words or his tone. He glanced over at Robert, who was also frowning.

"I wonder if they have a game like this where she comes from." Ham remarked.

"It wouldn't surprise me. It's a good start." Robert replied, meaning the moves the big lady had directed him to make.

"Hmmmm. Let's play it through."

"Unorthodox." Ham said twenty-five minutes later when both Robert and the big lady conceded defeat. "But a good game. She did a good job of mixing offensive and defensive moves."

"Give her a few more days of playing and she'll beat you." Robert predicted and Ham grinned.

"Probably … what's wrong with you?" He looked at the big lady, whose ears were flat and her expression very unhappy. She couldn't be reacting to losing the game ... then he realized she was glowering at the skies. And that he'd seen that look before.

"Damn!" He reached up to grab the lantern hanging on a hook above them and switched it off. "Shuttle coming! Donovan, get out there and tell them to get the lights off!"

"Shuttle? How …"

"Go!" Ham barked out, heading for the infirmary. Robert and Maggie were already running for the various buildings, yelling for lights off. Donovan hesitated then went the other way, making sure all lights were off and anyone outside was under cover.

Ham stepped cautiously out onto the porch, staying under the wooden overhang. Across the way, he could see the big lady now in the shelter of the stable, out of sight of any passing shuttle.

"What's this all about, Tyler?" Donovan joined him in the shelter of the overhang.

"Big lady warned of shuttles before, at the camp. She can hear them, maybe the same way radio transmissions hurt her ears ... Jesus!" Ham spat as a shuttle passed directly overhead, so low he could see the insignia. He stifled the urge to jump back, not wanting to make any movement that might be detected.

They could all hear it now as it swept over the movie-town. It whooshed out of sight and out of hearing with remarkable speed.

Ham grabbed Donovan before he could step out into the street. "Wait." He said then raised his voice. "Everyone stay put!" He ordered in his most commanding tone. He could hear others relaying the order as he looked intently across the street. The big lady still stood under cover, ears still flat.

Torturous minutes later, the shuttle passed overhead again, this time with search lights sweeping the ground. One came dangerously close to the two men standing in the doorway and only Ham's hand on Donovan's arm kept the latter from moving. The shuttle hovered for a long moment, lights sweeping the ground and Ham was thankful that the residents were so well trained then the shuttle was rising and speeding away.

Ham didn't move and his grip on Donovan ensured he didn't move either. He waited, watching the big lady until her ears came back up and she shook her head firmly, stepping from the stable.

Ham finally released Donovan and stepped down the stairs, whistling to get her attention then walking quickly down the street, waving for her to follow him. The big lady did so and, after a startled moment, so did Donovan.

Walking into the radio room, Ham flipped on the light, startling Linda McReady, who was manning the radio. She looked up, green eyes wide and face pale.

"What was that? A shuttle?" Her voice cracked.

"Yeah. Listen, did you record any transmissions from them?"

"What?" Linda said blankly. "Oh. Yes, I did. But it doesn't make any sense. …"

"Play it." Ham stepped to the window and unlocked it, sliding it open. He almost whistled but stopped when the big lady appeared, maneuvering her head into the room. She looked at Ham inquiringly. Ham nodded then looked at Linda, now frozen in position, staring at the big lady in shock. Of course, she spent most of her time here and probably never saw her up close. Ham rapped the table in front of her firmly. "Play what you recorded."

"Ham …" Donovan started but Linda was already rewinding the tape and pressing play. Immediately an alien voice was heard, reverberating and speaking an odd hissing language. Another voice was heard and then the first one again. Then it went dead.

"They got out of reach there." Linda said, calmer now as she was concentrating on her work. "Play it again?"

"Yes." Ham was watching the big lady, who was staring intently at the tape recorder, her ears arched forward.

Linda restarted that portion of tape; now she was watching the big lady as well.

"What are you trying to do?" Donovan asked.

"I think she understands their language. I want to see what she thinks about what they're saying."

"That's a bit of a reach, don't you think?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

The big lady sat back on her heels, looking thoughtful and pulling absently on her lower lip. Finally she pulled the drinking horn from under her armor. Twisting off the top, she poured out what remained of the tea and pointed inside the now empty container.

Ham arched an eyebrow, eyeing her thoughtfully. She shook the drinking horn, pointing into it again then making a sweeping gesture that seemed to indicate the entire town.

"Empty." Ham said slowly, looking at the tape. "They said the town was empty."

Donovan threw him a look. "You think that's what they said?"

"I think that's what she heard."

"There might be a way to confirm it." Julie was in the doorway, looking thoughtful. "Linda, can you make a copy of that section of tape?"

"Sure." Linda turned back to her equipment.

"What are you going to do?" Ham asked.

"Ask Willie to translate it."

Ham arched an eyebrow. "You trust him to do that?"

"Not completely. But I figure if he comes up with the same thing she did then there's a very good chance that's what was said."

Ham grunted, hating to admit that that was a good idea. Instead he turned to see the big lady easing her head back out of the window. When he looked back, Linda was handing a recorder to Julie. She gave him a wry grin. "Not you, Ham. You scare him to death. We'll meet you over at the infirmary. I want to check Ben over before curfew."

"Curfew?" Ham looked at his watch, surprised to see how late it was. "Right. I better go relieve Ruby."

"Ham?" Linda called him back before he could follow the couple from the building. "Here. This came in right before the alarm." She handed him a sheet of paper. He read the message on it, feeling relief flood through him. Folding the note and slipping it into a pocket, he thanked Linda and left.

Ruby was happy to pack up her knitting and, after reporting that he hadn't woken up at all, head for her bed. Ham tidied up the room, not that there was much to tidy up, and made sure the pitcher was filled with ice water. The window, he saw, was open and he decided to leave it like that, at least for now.

He wasn't surprised to see the big lady appear outside the window but he was surprised when she thrust something through it. The chess board, he realized, and a box with the chess pieces in it.

"You wanna play another game?" He said and she nodded, almost driving her horn through the gutter above her. Ham hesitated then shrugged. He wasn't tired yet so why now? "All right, let me clear the table."

Julie came in just as he was setting up the board on the room's small table, which he had cleared off and moved under the window.

"Willie says the same thing; that they decided the town was empty." She paused then grimaced. "He also said that they were certain the loud sounds and bright lights would scare any human who might be in the town into bolting or just coming out to see what's going on."

Ham smiled grimly as he set up the chess pieces. "The higher ups have conditioned the grunts into believing that we are nothing but dumb animals. That can work in our favor. They keep underestimating us. They expect us to act a certain way, not able to think. They expect humans to panic and in another town, a _real_ town, people probably would have." He turned to look at her for a moment. "You've trained your people well."

"Most of it was your doing." She reminded him.

Ham shrugged and turned back to the board. "You move first." He said curtly to the big lady.

Julie stifled a sigh and moved over to the bed, checking on her patient. He was resting comfortably and while he still had a fever, it wasn't high. "I wish I knew how often to put that salve on." She fretted.

"I put some on before going out." Ham watched as the big lady gingerly moved a piece, trying not to knock over any other pieces as she did so. "I'll put some more on before I go to bed."

Julie nodded absently, frowning. "Ham, his hand …"

He looked to see her touching his father's right hand, still clenched close. He grunted. "His wedding ring. They must have forced it off his finger. I'm surprised they didn't cut his finger off to get it."

Julie shuddered. "They didn't try to remove his necklace."

"They probably did." He turned to look at her thoughtfully. "Have you touched the amulet at all?"

"What?" Julie looked up in surprise. "Yes. Earlier. Why?"

"What did you feel?"

Julie blinked, thinking back. "A tingling feeling. Sort of like pins and needles. I just thought I was tired."

"No, I felt the same thing too and then again, when I touched the big lady's armor, only stronger."

"What does it mean?"

"No idea. But it means something." Ham shrugged it off. "But we can't do anything about it now." He hesitated. "Right before the alarm, Linda got a message from Chris. He's made contact with our group. He should be back sometime in the next couple days."

Julie looked up, frowning. "That was awful quick, wasn't it?"

Ham almost, but not quite, smiled. "Normally I'd say yes but my guess is they left a couple people watching the compound to see what happened. It's one of the best bases we have. No one wants to abandon it permanently." He turned back to the board, eyeing it thoughtfully then frowned, realizing that a couple more pieces were missing. Looking up at the big lady sternly, Ham tapped the board. "Put them back." He ordered.

The big lady's ears slowly lowered, not in threat but in embarrassment at being caught. She pulled the pieces from under her armor and set them delicately where they had been on the board.

"Can you cheat at chess?" Julie giggled.

"She's doing her best. " Ham growled. "My guess is she was wondering how good my memory is."

Julie stopped giggling. "You know, that could be exactly what she's doing. Ham, we've been thinking we're studying her but my guess is she's studying us just as hard."

Ham threw her a surprised look. "And you're just now realizing that?" He said with obvious amusement and Julie flushed.

"I guess it was lurking in the back of my mind." She admitted. "We're testing her, she's testing us."

"Looks like it. How's he doing?" He nodded at his father.

"Resting comfortably. Other than that … I hope Chris can get an x-ray machine, just to make sure."

Ham turned toward her, concern etched on his face. "If he was bleeding internally, we'd know by now. Wouldn't we?"

"Yeah, I think so. But that doesn't mean there can't be little bleeders or something like that. The sooner we can check the better. Ideally I'd like to take him to a hospital …"

"But we can't chance it." Ham finished. "Not while we have an alternative." He fingered a chess piece thoughtfully. "They'll bring what equipment they can."

"Then all we can do is wait."

"Yeah." Ham sighed, moving a piece almost absently. Julie watched them for a moment than sat abruptly on the side of the bed. Ham threw her a surprised look.

"Willie said something else." Julie said and Ham turned toward her. So did the big lady, which Julie found disconcerting for a moment. She finally settled on making a face at her. The big lady made a face back and despite herself, Julie smiled. "Apparently the big lady's paid him a couple visits. Not can she get her nose through the bars or anything. She just put her muzzle against the bars and snorts."

"And?"

"And nothing. He gets into the corner to one side of the window where she can't see him but apparently she can smell him. So she knows he's here."

Ham frowned. "They don't talk?"

Julie shook her head. "Willie doesn't know her language and apparently she can't speak his. But you said she could read it?" She looked at him, frowning.

"It looked like she was reading what was on the computer screen." Ham shot a quick look at the big lady, who was listening intently. "What does he know about her?"

"Not much." Julie admitted. "From the discussions Harmony and I have had with him, the Visitor home world has very little to do with other species. The average Visitor learns nothing about other species except from rumors and stories. Willie said he has heard about an ivory-armored race, mostly stories. Fairy tales, I guess you'd call them. Something like …" She groped for the proper words. "Like Cinderella. Young person in horrible conditions, fairy godmother in ivory armor magically appearing to make everything right."

Ham looked surprised, turning to eye the big lady with such attentiveness that she began to look concerned. "So the big lady's people take the role of the fairy godmother?"

"Apparently. He's going to recite as many of the stories as he can remember to Harmony and she'll write them out. But he did say something very interesting." She glanced at Ben then back at his son. "He said that the ones with the curved horns could teleport but the ones with the straight horns could heal."

Ham turned back to the big lady and they stared at each other, one with a fierce thoughtfulness, the other with an air of confusion. After a moment, Ham reached out and touched the outer curve of the big lady's horn, drawing his finger up it. Julie almost laughed as the big lady went cross-eyed trying to follow the gesture. At the end Ham paused then redid the gesture from the bottom of her horn, only this time, instead of following the curve, he mimed a straight horn.

The big lady's surprise was very evident. She blinked rapidly, obviously wondering where Ham had gotten that information then she touched her horn, repeating Ham's curved horn gesture before pointing first to herself and then to Julie. Pointing to her horn again, she raised her hand so the finger rested on the faceplate above and between her eyes, raising it to mime a straight horn. That gesture made, she pointed at Ham and then at Ben.

Julie's breath left her in a whoosh. "The females have a curved horn and teleport. The males have a straight horn and heal. Ham." She sounded as dazed as she felt. "The males of her race are unicorns." There was a trace of awe in her voice.

Ham's lips quirked into an unexpected smile. "So is she, Parrish. Unicorn means one horn. Where the horn is hardly matters."

"Well, that's true." She admitted. "But still …"

"This isn't fantasy." Ham sad firmly. "Its reality and we have to deal with it."

"Spoilsport." Julie muttered and Ham grinned. "Fine. Be that way. I'll be over in the morning to check on him. Good night." Julie started out the door.

"Night." Ham grunted, his attention back on the game.

"Ooood iiight." The big lady called after her and Julie paused, looking back at her before closing the door behind her.


End file.
